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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30026661">In Oblivion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmrn_hpr/pseuds/kmrn_hpr'>kmrn_hpr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Care of Magical Creatures, Cigarettes, Enemies to Lovers, Foster Care, Half-Elves, Magic, Multi, Mythical Beings &amp; Creatures, Reunions, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Underage Smoking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:28:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30026661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmrn_hpr/pseuds/kmrn_hpr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>LONG FIC IN PROGRESS</p><p>Maggie Alba's birth was written in the stars, however, her birth was unusual-she was born human to two non-human parents. Reluctantly, her parents send her away so she could live a somewhat normal life. When Maggie gets her acceptance letter and learns more of the wizarding world, she's eager to finally escape her rough life and go to a world full of magic, which only seemed possible in her childhood dreams. However, over the years, she becomes closer to her true heritage, and when she finally reunites with her family, it can put her and the people she loves in danger.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s), Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Teddy Lupin/Victoire Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prophecy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Depictions of strangulation at the beginning of the chapter. Mentions of kidnapping towards the middle of this chapter.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A young centaur gives Hagrid a prophecy about a half-breed who will revolutionize the half-breed reputation.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Depictions of strangulation at the beginning of this chapters. Mentions of kidnapping towards the middle of this chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The young centaur was supposed to be celebrating with his colony. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The centaurs would usually gather in a clearing, where Magorian would usually give a speech and sometimes, the stars would map out a prophecy. Usually, these would happen at midnight, but, curiously, it happened at sunset, when the stars were just peeking into the purple sky. It was also curious that the first one to see such a prophecy was a seven year old centaur, who was now looking for the only one who would get the message to those who wouldn't listen to them. The centaur raced far into the dangerous forest, carefully listening for big footsteps or even the swinging of a lantern. The centaur had to move fast, and the darker it got, the more worried he became.</p><p>It wasn't until he heard the whimpering of a dog when he got caught in one of the many aggressive plants in the forest and was thrown on the ground in a struggle. The more the young centaur struggled against the vine, the more it seemed to strangle against him. Frightened, the centaur tried to reach up to get the vine, which had crawled onto his neck, but that seemed to make it tighter. The centaur was about to give up hope when a dog came to him, and following close behind him was his owner, a man who was twice the size of a normal seventh year at the nearby school and had wild, unruly black hair and small, dark eyes. The man was carrying a lantern, which relaxed the vine relaxed when the man shone the light from the lantern on it. With the vine finally loose, the small centaur rose from the ground, brushing off the earth that was smeared onto him as he struggled.</p><p>"Sorry 'bou tha', Rigel," the giant said, calming his dog. "Aren' yeh s'possed ter be at the solstice ceremony?"</p><p>Rigel brushed dirt from his hair. "I was coming to tell you my prophecy, Hagrid."</p><p>Hagrid paused. Prophecies only happened, at the latest, only a few years. And they were certainly never read by someone so young. "A prophecy?"</p><p>"Yes, Hagrid! I saw the stars first! You know it's proper for the one who saw the stars first to tell the person most trustworthy of it! The only one the centaurs trust is you!"</p><p>Hagrid was shocked. It was hard to understand how Rigel could see the stars first before any of the leaders. He wasn't all that different from every other centaur. He had only just received his first bow, and only just recently started going stargazing with his father, but if there's one thing Hagrid's learned from the centaurs, it's that they never joke around about stars and their prophecies.</p><p>"Alrigh', le' it out," Hagrid said.</p><p>Rigel took a deep breath and started, "The stars flashed blue and gold. There was a child born in the lake, but she has two parents of different beings. They'll try to hide her away, but she'll become a brilliant witch. As she's young, horrible people will rise and try to take any half breeds, but when she matures, she'll begin a war and try to bring them down."</p><p>Hagrid paused for a moment. "She's goin' ter take down these people?"</p><p>Rigel shrugged and said "I don't know. The flashing stopped after the war."</p><p>Hagrid looked down at the centaur and said, "Alrigh'. I believe yeh. Le's get yeh back home. I'm sure Firenze don't want yeh gone too long."</p><p>Hagrid traveled deep into the forest to bring Rigel home, with Fang following closely behind. When they saw Firenze, Rigel ran towards his father with open arms, which his father returned. With Rigel finally safely with his father, Hagrid and Fang began to turn back.</p><p>"Hagrid," Firenze called. "Did he tell you the prophecy?"</p><p>"He did. No nee' ter get him into trouble."</p><p>"We take prophecies like this very seriously, Hagrid. Don't take this lightly. The stars are never wrong."</p><p>Hagrid nervously nodded and went on his way back to his hut with Fang closely following behind.</p><p>It wasn't until they had finally gotten out of the forest was when Fang began barking at the lake and running from Hagrid, trying to get to the water. "Quiet, Fang," Hagrid yelled. "Jus' 'cause the students left today don't mean yeh can bark loudly! There are teachers still here, yeh know!"</p><p>Fang didn't listen and instead was running down the banks of the lake, barking at whatever was in the water. </p><p>Hagrid rolled his eyes. "Firs' a prophecy, now this. I can' take a break for a moment?"</p><p>He followed Fang down into the boathouse, where the boats were now back to their usual spots after sending the first and seventh years back to the train station. The boathouse was made to look smaller on the outside than it actually was, so Hagrid headed in with a scowl on his face. </p><p>The boathouse was dark, but brightly lit. It was adorned with torches and lanterns and some seagulls nesting in small, yet comfortable, corners. The piers that surrounded the building's stone were aged finely, with barnacles climbing up the pilings and bits of sand in between the planks of wood. This was Hagrid's usual place of feeding the creatures that lived below. A bit of the lake's residents had increased by the time the Second Wizarding War was long over. They now had mermaids. Not the uglier kind, but the ones you could find in warmer waters, which were more known as sirens. The ones old sailors used to write about in their journals. Sadly, they didn't ask to come to the lake. At the turn of the century, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures came up with the idea that students needed to learn how to defend themselves against the water creatures. To achieve this, they went to the waters of Greece and captured four of them. Hagrid felt bad for them, but there was no way he could get them back to Greece. The best he could do was to take care of them and befriend them. They didn't properly open up until Hagrid proved harmless and was given their trust. It also helped that one of them became rather close with one of the school's spirit guides.</p><p>Spirit guides only appear to those who they allow to see them, and they could take many forms in a sunshine-colored figure. When anyone, either ghost or living, needed help, the spirit guide would appear to help them, in addition of making life happen in the form of sunshine and small tree saplings. They had to be born with the ability to pass through all dimensions of life to come back as one, and they were quite uncommon, but there was one who truly did stick around. Colin Creevey was one of the students who had perished in the Second War, only to be happy to come back to help other muggleborns and people who wanted to learn more about the wizarding world as he did when he was alive. He had gotten close to Chrysos, the shyest one. They seemed to be especially close, as Hagrid would often hear Chrysos's soft laughter and Colin's small voice with hers. There was a bit of a rumor floating around in the forest they they were a bit more than friends, but Hagrid never bothered to ask such an invasive question.</p><p>As Hagrid rounded the corner to the main part of the boathouse, he heard a muffled sob come from the pier. Hagrid froze and hid behind the wall, worried that he would interrupt something.</p><p>"Fang... you've got him... right?" It was Chrysos's voice. She was obviously crying. Something was wrong. "I-I don't want t-to do this. Colin, l-let's just h-hide her away. W-we can be th-the family w-we t-talked about."</p><p>Colin was there too.</p><p>"We already can't have her. What good would it do for her if she's hidden away," Colin's sad voice told her.</p><p>"B-but how c-can we p-protect her? She's g-going to be all alone. Sh-she's t-too small f-for us t-to give her away."</p><p>Hagrid couldn't ignore this, he had to help them. He rounded the corner to see Chrysos and Colin leaning over whatever Chrysos was holding in her arms, with Fang resting his head on her tail. They turned to see Hagrid, and Hagrid could she she was holding something in an old tablecloth she probably found in a corner. "Hagrid," Chrysos said. "We-"</p><p>"I's alrigh', Chryso'. Yeh don' have ter tell me. I'll take Fang and "</p><p>"But we need your help," Chrysos told him desperately.</p><p>Hagrid paused and walked towards them. The closer he got, the more he could make out the figure in the tablecloth. "Wai' a minute," Hagrid said. "Is tha' a human?'</p><p>Chrysos held the tablecloth closer to her body, but Colin intervened. "We need him, Chrys. He can keep her safe."</p><p>"Now wai' jus' a minute! Who's this "her" I keep hearin' abou'," Hagrid asked.</p><p>Chrysos finally let Hagrid see thee tablecloth, and it indeed was a baby. She was fast asleep in the tablecloth, and looked as if she had Colin's features, but had Chrysos's distinct golden hair. Chrysos and Colin looked down at the small girl in the tablecloth, smiling with love. Colin finally broke the silence by lovingly saying, "Isn't she the smallest thing? I wasn't even sure if it was going to work!"</p><p>"Wai', wha' were yeh not sure was goin' ter work," Hagrid questioned alarmingly. </p><p>Colin and Chrysos looked at each other and sighed. Chrysos spoke first, "Hagrid, we've been together for quite a while. Only two years and... I thought we could try having a child." Colin continued, "I agreed to it. I was excited to have a family with her, but then we figured it would be difficult. Chrys came up with the idea to use my life abilities to try to conceive, and it worked, but she wasn't a siren. She's not a spirit either."</p><p>Hagrid looked down at the girl, back to her parents, and then back down. "How did you two-"</p><p>"We thought it came from Colin. He hasn't been dead for ten years. I had thought his physical form might have done something to her," Chrysos answered.</p><p>Colin looked down at his daughter and remarked, "Curious thing is, she could breathe fine under the water. And, get this Hagrid, I could hold her."</p><p>"Yer lyin'."</p><p>"I'm not. Let me hold her, Chrys. Let's show him."</p><p>Chrysos looked down at the baby, hesitated, and gave her to Colin which he could, Surprisingly, hold as if he were still alive. Spirit guides couldn't hold worldly objects. Hagrid couldn't believe what he was seeing.</p><p>"An' yer sure she's human?"</p><p>"She has legs Hagrid. She can't make it in the lake," Chrysos told him.</p><p>"Wha' abou' the other sirens? Or the selkies?"</p><p>"Everyone in the lake's seen her, Hagrid. Everyone's in agreement that she would be better off... in the Muggle world."</p><p>Hagrid paused. "Chryso'? Yeh want me ter take her away?"</p><p>"You can save her. Who knows what danger she could be in..." Chrysos's eyes got wide, "What if the bad ones finds out about her?" The bad ones was what the sirens called the Ministry after they arrived at the lake.</p><p>Colin had a look of fear in his eye too. He looked as if he didn't want to think of his daughter being seized for whatever the Ministry would hypothetically have in store for her.</p><p>Hagrid put a large hand on Chrysos's shoulder and said, "I'll do everythin' I can ter keep her safe. An' who knows, maybe she'll come to Hogwarts and you'll be able ter see her again."</p><p>Chrysos began to cry again. "Could you write a note for me? I don't want to leave her without saying anything to whoever's... taking care of her."</p><p>"Not a problem, Chryso'," Hagrid said, digging around in his moleskin overcoat for a quill, ink and some parchment.</p><p>Chrysos wiped away her tears and she began her letter to her daughter:</p><p>"To whomever takes care of my daughter,</p><p>	On this day of the summer solstice, I gave birth to my daughter. It’s supposed to be a day of celebration, yet today it pains me to hand her to you. She’s small, so I ask you to protect her as I would hope you’d understand. As strange as it sounds, we can’t let her stay with us. To my daughter, when she’s big enough to read this, I hope you know that we didn’t give you away, because I don’t think you can ever get rid of someone you love so much, even if it’s only for a day.”</p><p>Take care of Margaret Alba."</p><p>Hagrid finished writing and looked the note over. "Margaret Alba," he said, "Tha's a fine name fer a girl."</p><p>"It's perfect for her," Colin said, taking one last look at his daughter. He couldn't because spirits can't cry, but it was clear he wanted to.</p><p>"One last thing, Hagrid," Chrysos said as she handed her daughter, albeit reluctantly, to Hagrid. She took off the pearl necklace she was wearing and put it onto her daughter.</p><p>"Chryso', wasn't tha' yer mother's? The one she gave yeh righ' before they took yeh?"</p><p>Chrysos smiled down at her daughter and nodded. "I can remember my mother fine without it. She won't have her mother," she frowned as she said the last part of her sentence. "Goodbye, sunshine. I hope to see you again. Even if you won't know I'm there."</p><p>Hagrid stood up, along with Fang after Chrysos pet him against his ear, and set off, leaving Colin and Chrysos without a daughter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sunrise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Introduction to Maggie and her upbringing in foster care</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Child abuse mentioned throughout this chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maggie woke up from her dream just in time for the sun to begin rising. She looked down from her bunk to find Talia still fast asleep below, and across the small room to find Jaida and Isabella fast asleep in theirs. Quietly, she climbed down from the bunk, snuck across the room, and outside the bedroom. She snuck quietly past Ms. Cracknell's bedroom and out of the flat, not worrying about being caught. </p><p>It wasn't her first time sneaking out to watch the sunrise, as never really slept in. She always found herself awake with the sun, and if she had the energy, she liked to watch it rise. The problem was there weren't many good places for watching the sun rise in Northampton, but within a few weeks of settling into the new flat, she stole the key to the roof and decided that it was the best. Of course, the sun would peak out of the dirty city and there was the occasional druggie pushing a rusty shopping cart, but it was the best she could do. Sometimes, she would go up to the roof during the day to read a book. All she could do were the classics, since that was all Ms. Glass, her former foster parent. Before she left, she had stolen a paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice that Ms. Glass kept in a huge cabinet with other books. Maggie read them when Glass was asleep, with Pride and Prejudice becoming a favorite. Despite all the horrible memories she had of Ms. Glass, she had to credit her unused collection of classic paperbacks for properly teaching her how to read, as Simeon's Girls Academy didn't have the best staff to be teaching her. </p><p>When she got to the top, she dug the key out of her pocket and opened the door, ignoring the red "MAINTENANCE ONLY" sign as she walked onto the roof, where the sunlight was just peeking out behind the city. she went to the edge of the roof, which was blocked off by a brick wall about half of Maggie's size, which was pretty small. Maggie liked to climb onto the brick wall, either to read or to watch the sunrise or sunset, and dangle her legs from the wall. It didn't scare her when she did, and she never fell off the building. Well, that was a lie. </p><p>There was the one time she fell off, but then somehow, she ended up in the building's dumpster without a scratch. Maggie was fine after the incident, just a bit confused. And then there was the time when she fell through the fire escape when she tried to sneak out to steal a birthday gift for Talia. Yes, through. Maggie couldn't explain to the couple who lived in the first floor flat how she got there, so she ran away out into the alley before they could call the police. Then there was the time when she was eight years old when she saw the entire drawer of silverware unhinge itself, rise into the air, and turn itself over, spilling all the knives and spoons and forks everywhere. That was the last straw for Ms. Glass, as she filed a complaint to the agency about her "unruly behavior" a day later. That was only her third foster home, sixth home overall. It wasn't new for someone to complain about her "unruly behavior" and pass her around.</p><p>Her journey throughout the Northampton Foster System started at what she guessed was birth, as she only faintly remembered a shadowy figure dropping her off at Ms. Silverstone's, her first foster mother, who she remembered as a kind, younger woman. When she was eighteen months old to a young couple of newlyweds that she found, reading her records, were named "Smith", which she affectionately remembers as her first "hell home".  She was their daughter up until she was about three years old, when she began hitting them. All she remembers is a lot of yelling one night and then they dropped her off at the agency the next morning. The agency found vacancy at Ms. Fairchild, an older, more traditional woman, who ended up fostering older girls and Maggie was pushed around by several bigger, older, larger girls. She can remember Sarah Blatt, a twelve year old girl, leaving a rather large bruise and cursing at her when she was five all because she accidentally knocked over a House of Cards she was working on and Fairchild ended up punishing them both by taking turns beating them. When she was adopted by the Sheffields at age six, who were a middle aged couple looking to take in a little girl, but they took her back after they found her sneaking into closets, even when Mr. Sheffield started locking her in her room, she remembers walking through the door and up to Mrs. Sheffield's shoes in the closet. She can still remember the argument the Sheffields had, with Mrs. Sheffield saying, "Are you sure, Stephen? She just needs some help. Maybe your theory of locking her up isn't working."</p><p>"Hush, woman. She's begun scratching at you, has she not? She needs to go back where she came from. Maybe that'll teach her not to go putting her nose where it doesn't belong," Mr. Sheffield said in response.</p><p>Maggie, who was listening by the door, ran back to her room and cried the rest of the night, closely holding the bear they gave her when she first arrived that she had named Robbie. When they left her at the agency, they told her to wait in the lobby while they took Robbie for a walk and were never seen again. Maggie, although she was expecting they'd leave her, ended up terribly sobbing in the unfamiliar lobby, as she had never been in the agency's building before and she was afraid of being alone in a new place. The agency later sent her to Ms. Glass, who was slightly older than the Sheffields. She was also beaten whenever Ms. Glass was awake to be bothered to punish her as well as the other girls. Maggie blames her stealing tendencies on Ms. Glass, as she was pretty much asleep most of the time, but they came useful to her education and survival. After the silverware incident, she was finally sent to Ms. Cracknell's when she was eight. </p><p>Ms. Cracknell wasn't older, but not exactly young, and she didn't hit Maggie when she got into trouble, just only talked sternly to her on occasion from a place of concern. On top of that, two out of the three other girls were around her age. Jaida was thirteen, tall, dark, and was sporty. Most of the time, she was out at the local basketball court, which was cracked and overgrown with weeds, and was considerably better than every other boy who played basketball. Jaida, however, being the oldest, could be quite argumentative, mostly with Maggie. Jaida could also be quite protective of everyone, despite seemingly being at war every other day. Isabella was eight, and could become easily attached. She was also artistic, often drawing someone she sees in the flat or on the streets of Northampton. She had light brown skin, straight dark brown hair, and big brown eyes that stared at you adoringly if you showed her the slightest bit of love. The youngest one, who had just turned five, was Talia. Talia was dark, with her hair mostly tied up in two big, round pigtails. She didn't speak much, and was often in her own world, but adored Maggie. Maggie often finds herself testing her patience, as she caught Talia chewing the chain of the pearl necklace she wore all the time, but she couldn't be mad at her. She was still very young and she could imagine that being off in her own world could rub off in the real world.</p><p>The pearl necklace was important to her. It was really the only thing that was tied to her parent's lives, other than the tablecloth she was found in, but that was locked away in the trunk Terry Blanchett left at Ms. Fairchild's, who gave it to Maggie when she couldn't fit it in her closet. Maggie didn't have much to put in it, but it became useful for storage for her jewelry box, tablecloth, and any other valuables she didn't trust the other girls with. She considered it her most prized possession, as it had to have been from her parents, wherever they were. She remembers when she changed the old rope from it, stealing a chain from an antique store when she was seven to make it look nicer and had been regularly changing out the chain since. She never took it off, because that was the smart thing to do in Maggie's world.</p><p>When the sun finally rose, Maggie smiled. She loved the feeling of a new day. A new adventure, a new story was something she looked forward to. She swung herself off the wall and quietly made her way back down to Cracknell's flat, disappearing from the roof as if she were never there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Letters From the Sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Maggie celebrates her birthday with a friend and gets her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, in addition to meeting Hagrid. We learn a little more about Maggie in this chapter, in terms of personality and interests.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Light mentions of vomit and blood at the beginning of this chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Oi, Maggie!"</p><p>Maggie turned around to see Nick Thoron running down the street. Nick was a boy only a month younger than Maggie who lived a few floors above them with his mother. He looked like a typical troublemaker in Northampton, with his dirty blonde hair cropped close to his scalp, his grey, stormy eyes, tall, stocky build, and often wore second-hand clothes, not to mention his strong accent. If it wasn't for Jaida introducing the two after Maggie first transferred in, they probably would never be friends, even though he had made fun of her gold-colored eyes and to retaliate, she made fun of his haircut when they'd first met. He and Maggie became the most unexpected friends, as he seemed to get in trouble because he enjoyed it, while trouble usually happened to Maggie, whether she liked it or not. Despite their differences, they certainly had a knack for keeping each other out of trouble.</p><p>"Wha'tcha got from the bookshop this time," Nick asked. "Who'd 'a have to steal it from?"</p><p>"Very funny, Nick," Maggie replied. He knew she'd never steal from the antique bookstore. Granted she never got the money from the books fairly. </p><p>She wouldn't leave town without having stolen some cash from bags or back pockets. Sometimes she would go along with Jaida, where they'd both roam around the city stealing whatever money they could. She swore to herself she'd never steal from the local antique bookstore. She enjoyed the smell, the cashier who worked on weekends with purple hair and a nose ring named Megan, and the odd people who would come in, like people with top hats or long overcoats. She loved reading in the soft armchairs in the warmest corners of the shop making her way through old books. Most people didn't understand it, but she didn't care. It was a safe place for her to be alone in a quiet area.</p><p>"Aye, got 'cha somethin'. Stole it from a street vendor," Nick said, holding out a bag full of bon bons. "Happy birthday, Margaret."</p><p>Maggie excitingly took the bag and ate a bon bon hungrily, "You remembered!" Maggie said cheerfully.</p><p>"Can't really forget somethin' I'm reminded of for a whole month out of the year," Nick said "'You should 'a listen to me, Nick. I'm only one whole month older than you.' 'Oh, Nick, gotta remember how I'm smarter than you because I'm a whole month older than you.' I really can't - hey! Slow down, woul 'dya! Cracknell feeding you alright?"</p><p>Maggie wiped away the crumbs of bon bon from her mouth and said, "Oh hush, Nicolas. You know she wouldn't starve us. She doesn't have a neglecting bone in her body."</p><p>"God, I wish you wouldn't call me 'Nicolas'. It's already so long and boring."</p><p>"And you consider 'Margaret' not so long and boring?"</p><p>"Tell you what, don't call me 'Nicolas' and I won't call you 'Margaret'. How's that?"</p><p>"I can come to an agreement."</p><p>The two walked down the street up until they reached a small park, where Maggie would occasionally take Isabella and Talia, and sat on the bench. The two sat staring out into the grey sky and the foul-looking surroundings. The sidewalks were cracked and overgrown and there was rubbish surrounding the actual rubbish bins. It was untidy, but that seemed almost normal for this side of Northampton. There were times when Maggie had to avoid walking in vomit to avoid the smell and, well, it was vomit, if she didn't want another pair of her sneakers on a powerline thrown on there by a bigger girl, it was best if she kept away from them.</p><p>Finally, after a moment of silence, Nick reached for the bag and asked again, "What 'cha got from the bookshop, Maggie?"</p><p>Maggie looked down at the paper bag and dug the book out and handed it towards him. "Jane Eyre," she answered. "I can finally afford the hardcover editions."</p><p>"Cool. Wha's this book about," Nick asked her, taking the book and turning it gently in his hands.</p><p>"Pretty much describes a girl's tragedies in her life and how she overcomes them."</p><p>Nick, still looking down at the book rather confused, asks, "You enjoy this book."</p><p>"Well I've read it five times before, from the school's library in the advanced section. If you actually took time to read, you would probably find it enjoyable too," Maggie told him, taking the book back.</p><p>Nick looked sad for a moment before speaking up. "I forgot," he said. "We're not going to the same school after the holidays end."</p><p>Maggie looked back at him with the same sad expression as she realized that what he was saying was true. Nick would be going to the local secondary school only three streets away from the flat and Maggie would be going to Grey's Academy for Girls, as ordered by the agency. Grey's wasn't exactly notorious for its education. A more accurate description would be that there were a lot of literal bloody fights and the school's library was awful. Of course Jaida also attended Grey's, and she had come home with some frightening stories that made Maggie so anxious, she didn't sleep some nights. She wasn't looking forward to Grey's, and of course, she'd miss seeing Nick all the time. Not to mention, she'd be all alone, as Jaida would be in a different building for her year. Who would know what they would take from her. Nervously, she reached up to her pearl necklace and protectively, yet gently, grasped it.</p><p>"I... didn't really think about how much I'd miss you."</p><p>Nick turned to her, smiling. "Admitting how your life would be boring without me? 'Bout time you did."</p><p>Maggie rolled her eyes and sat back and watched the sun disappear behind the grey clouds. Nick made an attempt to braid her golden, wavy  hair to no effect, which caused Maggie to laugh. "Admit it!" She said joyously. "You really don't know everything!"</p><p>"Whatever, Golden-Eyes," he said.</p><p>"Oh, we're using childish nicknames we came up for each other when we were eight?"</p><p>"So what if I haven't used it in three years!"</p><p>"Whatever you like to say, Bald Boy."</p><p>Nick sat back for a moment. "Ouch," he said. "I deserved that."</p><p>Maggie, feeling rather guilty, held out her bon bons and said, "I'll give you one of these if we can both agree we're sorry."</p><p>"Deal."</p><p>After he had snacked on his bon bon, he'd noticed the sun was going down. "We gotta get back. Mum's gonna kill me if I'm not back by sundown."</p><p>With that, they headed off back to the flat where Maggie had decided at the last possible second to go with Nick up to his flat because he lived on the top floor- and the top floor meant that the stairs to the roof were at her disposal for watching the sunset on her birthday. After saying hello to Marcia, Nick's mother, she left for the roof after knowing no one was looking. She climbed the stairs, took the key from her pocket and unlocked the door, once again ignoring the red "MAINTENANCE ONLY" sign that never disappeared from its spot.</p><p>She stepped into the dimming sunlight and ran towards the wall separating her from falling five stories down and climbed onto it, setting the paper bag with the book in it right next to her, carefully setting it away from the edge. Like always, she dangled her feet from the wall and took in the purple-ish, grey-ish sun and began doing what she did best when she was watching the sunset; daydreaming. She daydreamed about a lot of things: stories that she had come up with in he head about fairy princesses, balls, castles, but sometimes, her mind would wonder who her parents were. See, apparently she was left without a note when she was a baby. No birth certificate, no family ties, no letters, nothing of the sort. She was only left with her necklace and her tablecloth she was wrapped in. Because rumors went around fast in the system, and due to the fact she was found with a tablecloth, she was categorized as "a child from druggie parents".</p><p>Part of Maggie didn't believe it, but she also knew it was possible. She had read articles on children with druggie parents from birth and she didn't have the symptoms of someone whose parents had abused drugs. Also, what were a couple of druggies doing with an expensive-looking pearl necklace? Then again, they put it in the hands of a baby, apparently. The more Maggie questioned about her parents, the more she wondered, 'Why did they give me up?' Because she's been on her own for so long, she should've been used to being without parents, but she also wanted to be tucked into bed and told bedtime stories and be told "I'm so proud of you!" for when she did something great. Those thoughts would make her cry.</p><p>"Block it out of your mind. Not on this day," Maggie whispered to herself. There had to be something, anything to distract her...</p><p>"Hey!" Maggie yelled a little too loudly when she felt an envelope drop on her head. She looked up, but all she could see was an owl a little ways away. "Odd," Maggie thought to herself. "Never seen an owl in this part of town."</p><p>She got off from the wall and picked up the letter. The first thing she noticed was that it wasn't any normal paper, but instead it looked like parchment. She saw a red seal with a crest that held the envelope shut. She turned it around to see emerald green ink spelling out:</p><p>Ms M. Alba<br/>
Top Bunk On the Right<br/>
406 Glum Street<br/>
Northampton</p><p>Who would be sending Maggie letters? Maybe it was a transfer letter. Maybe someone in London. Maybe she was being taken to London because Cracknell isn't receiving enough money to take care of the girls anymore. Anxiety swept through Maggie. Cracknell had promised she would keep the girls for as long as she could. Then, there was a noise.</p><p>"'Scuse me, Margaret. Blimey, yer tiny."</p><p>Maggie turned around to see a large man. He had quite long hair and a beard that covered his face to match. He large feet and probably twice the size of Jaida, who was already quite tall. He also had small dark, yet kind eyes. He wore what looked like makeshift clothes as if this giant figure sewed the clothes himself, but it was charming, as afraid as Maggie was.</p><p>"I-I'm sorry. I... I was... I-I..."</p><p>"Don' worry, Margaret. Yer not in any trouble. Jus' here on Hogwarts business."</p><p>Hogwarts? Was that the name of the maintenance company?</p><p>"I'm really sorry, sir. If you'll let me head back down, you won't tell? I swear, I didn't touch anything."</p><p>The giant looked at her for a second and howled out in laugher. "Yeh though' I were a Muggle? Merlin, yer already grea'."</p><p>A muggle? What was that?</p><p>"Excuse me, sir. What's a muggle," Maggie asked the giant, who was just wiping the tears from his eyes.</p><p>"Oh. I guess yeh no' expected to have a wizarding couple adopt yeh. Well, tha's alrigh'. Nothin' we can control."</p><p>"I'm sorry. 'Wizarding couple'?"</p><p>"Blimey, Margaret! Yeh woul' wait for me to finish woul' yeh. Apple really don' fall far from the tree-"</p><p>"Sorry, sir. Not a big fan of Margaret. Call me Maggie instead," Maggie asked timidly.</p><p>"Ah, Maggie. I like it. If we're goin' by nicknames, Call me Hagrid. Ain't no one call me 'Rubeus' no more."</p><p>"Alright, Hagrid. Tell me your business."</p><p>Hagrid took out a pink umbrella and tapped it against the concrete. It was subtle, but she felt a but of a wave go below her feet to the floors below. "There. Now the muggles won't hear us," Hagrid said, looking back at Maggie as she nervously pursed her lips.</p><p>"Alrigh', Maggie. Since yeh have no idea, I'm here ter tell yeh a few things. Maggie, yer a witch."</p><p>"A what?"</p><p>"A witch. Ever noticed strange things that yeh couldn't explain properly?"</p><p>Maggie thought back to all those strange occurrences when she was about seven or eight. Or the incident with the fire escape. Or when she ended up in the dumpster unharmed. Or when she would seemingly disappear from plain sight whenever she would steal something. Suddenly, it all made sense.</p><p>"Wait! Magic exists? But... that's only stuff in stories," Maggie said almost in disbelief.</p><p>"But it makes sense, don' it. Hogwarts is never wrong. Which leads me ter Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a school. A school where yeh learn how ter use yer magic. Go on, open yer letter."</p><p>Maggie held the letter in both her hands and broke the seal. She took out two pieces of parchment and read:</p><p>HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY</p><p>Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall (Order of Merlin, First Class, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Animagus Registry)</p><p>Dear Ms Alba,<br/>
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.<br/>
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.</p><p>Yours sincerely,</p><p>Filius Flitwick<br/>
Deputy Headmaster</p><p>Maggie couldn't believe it. All the dreams she had about magic were somewhat real. "And... and I'm allowed to go?"</p><p>"'Course yeh are. Yeh have magic in yeh. Even if yeh live with a bunch o' muggles."</p><p>"Hagrid," the small girl asked, "What's a muggle?"</p><p>Hagrid sharply looked back at her. "Oh, sorry, Maggie," he told her. "Non-magic folk."</p><p>"Oh. Muggle," Maggie tried out.</p><p>"If yeh want, we can go get yer stuff in London tomorrow. Gonna have ter talk ter yeh guardian though."</p><p>Maggie smiled. A whole day away from Northampton sounded like a distant fantasy. And in London? She couldn't pass up the opportunity.</p><p>Maggie turned to the other page and saw it was a shopping list. She read through it as it said:</p><p>HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY</p><p>Uniform<br/>
First-year students will require:<br/>
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)<br/>
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear<br/>
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)<br/>
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)</p><p>Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags</p><p>Set Books<br/>
All students should have a copy of each of the following:<br/>
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk<br/>
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot<br/>
Magical Theory by Aldabert Waffling<br/>
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch<br/>
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore<br/>
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger<br/>
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander<br/>
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trible</p><p>Other Equipment<br/>
1 wand<br/>
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)<br/>
1 set glass or crystal phials<br/>
1 telescope<br/>
1 set brass scales</p><p>Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad</p><p>PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS</p><p>Maggie scrunched her nose in confusion. "We can buy all this in London," she asked.</p><p>"Certainly. If yeh know where ter look. Jus' bring some muggle money ter exchange for wizard money. I hope ter see yeh tomorrow. Meet me at the train station at ten o'clock tomorrow"</p><p>Maggie looked back down at the list and wanted to ask Hagrid more, but when she looked back up, the giant was gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Wonders of Diagon Alley</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Maggie and Hagrid go shopping in Diagon Alley</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maggie grabbed her paper bag and started back to Cracknell's flat in a daze of confusion. There was so much to take in from the last ten minutes. If Maggie was sure of one thing, it was the fact that there was a nine out of ten chance that magic was real, and some part of her carried some amount of it. Why wouldn't a man twice the size of a normal man who could apparently send a wave of silence around them tell her otherwise? Yes, it was odd, but Maggie couldn't deny that even some of the authors of books she's read couldn't make most of this up. She figured that most of girls were still out: Jaida was probably still out in the streets, Isabella was probably walking back from a friend's house, and Talia was probably fast asleep by now, as she would usually fall asleep as the sun went down. She figured it would be best to ask Cracknell about it, as she could usually help in these situations.</p><p>When she came back to the flat, she saw Cracknell hastily hiding a small box behind her back before saying "Happy Birthday," with her sweet expression. Cracknell was a bit of a plump woman with average height for a thirty year old woman. She had curls dyed an ashy blonde that curled around her face tightly with round, horn-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She also had a mixed skin tone, making it light brown as a result. Her best feature, however, was her sweet smile that made dimples in her cheeks as she did. By far, she's Maggie's favorite foster home, as she could be a bit overbearing, yet kind.</p><p>She handed her a small box that was wrapped in blue paper with a darker blue ribbon to match. Maggie opened it up to find a bookmark. Maggie smiled and gave thanks to Cracknell. Cracknell wasn't paid enough to give really adequate gifts, but it's not like Maggie had high expectations. Her biggest gift was a bear that was taken away from her four years ago, after all. Not to mention, it would come in handy for Jane Eyre. She took Jane Eyre from the paper bag and stuck the bookmark in it's cover.</p><p>"Now, where'd you get the money for that," Ms. Cracknell asked.</p><p>Maggie froze. "I- oh, I've been sweeping the streets for money."</p><p>Cracknell laughed and said, "You're a terrible liar, y'know?"</p><p>Maggie, worried, frowned in response.</p><p>"Cheer up, now. I won't get on you this time. You have to promise me something, though. Can you do that?"</p><p>"Yes, ma'am."</p><p>"Ok. You have to promise, by the time school comes around, you won't steal from anybody there."</p><p>Maggie froze as she remembered the letter in her back pocket. Slowly, she reached behind her and said, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."</p><p>She gave Ms. Cracknell the letter and let her read it over. Her eyes grew wide the more she read through it. Finally, after several minutes of silence she spoke, "Who gave this to you?"</p><p>"Technically, it fell from the sky, and then a tall man who could do magic appeared."</p><p>Cracknell pulled a nearby chair and collapsed in it. "Maggie," she spoke. "Did this man-"</p><p>"Oh, he didn't do anything to hurt me. Just told me about the school. He told me that if I wanted to come, I could meet him at the train station tomorrow morning at ten o'clock for school supplies."</p><p>"Maggie, you mean to tell me that a stranger walked up to you, told you about a magic school, and asked you to meet him at the train station tomorrow?"</p><p>"Please, Ms. Cracknell, you have to trust me on this! I saw him do magic myself!"</p><p>"Listen, Maggie. I don't want you to get hurt! I don't want any of you girls to be hurt all because you met up with some stranger!"</p><p>"Please trust me! Just this once?"</p><p>Cracknell looked at her and shook her head. Sighing, she said, "I'm going to the train station with you tomorrow. If I don't feel alright about him, I'm calling the police. Do you understand?"</p><p>Maggie smiled and hugged her, giving her thanks. She couldn't sleep that night, as she was excited to go shopping in London with what she guessed was a new friend.</p><p>Maggie, as always, woke up during the sunrise, partially because of habit, but also because she was so eager to get to the train station. Quietly, she went around her small bedroom and found the letter tucked into the pocket of her jeans from the day before and reached into her trunk to find all the stolen money still in its jar. She dug all of it out and placed it in a pair of almost-too-small capris back pocket and wore a too-big white t-shirt over it. She put on her pair of usual sneakers and quietly headed out to watch the television before the other girls woke up.</p><p>One by one, the girls made their way out of the room, with Jaida making herself a bowl of cereal, and Isabella and Talia ended up switching the television to cartoons. Maggie was much too jumpy on the small couch to pay much attention to her surroundings. She almost missed Jaida's remark of, "Might want to watch for Maggie, Isa. She might spaz if someone doesn't hold her down."</p><p>Finally, Cracknell, who was ready to go, told the girls to say goodbye to Maggie, with Isabella not letting go of her and Talia hysterically crying.</p><p>"All's good," Maggie told them, "I'll be back soon. I promise."</p><p>"Hang on," Jaida interrupted as Maggie was on her way out. "What are you going to the train station for?"</p><p>"Something for school, Jaida," Cracknell answered for her.</p><p>"Grey's," Jaida asked, perplexed.</p><p>"Not exactly. I'll tell you later."</p><p>And with that, Maggie and Cracknell made their way to the train station. The train station wasn't the worst one in the history of England, but it certainly wasn't King's Cross. And it was also within walking distance to the flat, which made it very easy to travel on foot from. When they finally got to the train station, they waited on one of the benches outside. "So, Maggie, you found this man where, exactly," Cracknell asked.</p><p>"Well-"</p><p>"Maggie! Glad ter see yeh," a familiar voice yelled behind.</p><p>"Hagrid!" Maggie yelled, seeing him only a short distance away.</p><p>Cracknell looked intimidated. She backed further towards the edge of the seat.</p><p>"Wait a sec', Maggie. Yeh didn't introduce me ter yer mother yet," Hagrid said, walking up towards Cracknell, extending a hand towards her.</p><p>"Rubeus Hagrid, but everyone jus' calls me Hagrid," Hagrid said, introducing himself in the calmest manner Maggie guessed he could possibly come up with.</p><p>"Alma Cracknell. And I'm sorry to say I'm not Maggie's adopted mother. Just her foster parent," Cracknell told Hagrid, cautiously shaking his head.</p><p>"Nice ter... oh. Well, tha' changes everythin', don' it? Nice ter meet yeh," Hagrid said, turning towards Maggie. "Well, I got our tickets. Migh' as well get goin'."</p><p>Maggie and Hagrid began heading to the platforms when Cracknell stopped them. "I want her back by seven. If I see as much as a scratch or a bruise on her, I'll make sure you won't see the light of day ever again," she told them.</p><p>"Yeh can trus' me, ma'am. She won' be harmed at all."</p><p>And with that, they headed onto the train. </p><p>The train to Northampton to London was about an hour long, which made time for plenty of conversation between Hagrid and Maggie. He asked her questions about her life, mainly about foster care, to which Maggie avoided the painful parts, but still told him about her previous families.</p><p>"So, why'd they give yeh up? Yeh seem like a nice enough girl."</p><p>"I guess I was being too much for them."</p><p>"No, no. I won' accept it. They mus' be upset now they don' have a little one like yerself."</p><p>Maggie smiled. No one had ever said that about her before.</p><p>When they had finally arrived in London, they walked down a long street, in which they kept stopping because Maggie would stop to stare in wonder, and walked almost in complete silence until Maggie asked, "Where are we going?"</p><p>"Ter buy all yer things fer school, of course."</p><p>"Yeah, but where are the shops that sell them."</p><p>"Don' worry. We're comin' up ter it." Hagrid pointed to a pub with a cauldron hanging just above its door. "Jus' through here, Maggie."</p><p>They went inside the pub with Maggie still a bit confused, yet anxiously awaiting what was in store for her. Inside the smoky pub, there were many people with cloaks and pointed hats. As strange as the scene was, Maggie felt quite at home already, even if she stuck out like a sore thumb.</p><p>"Hagrid," a rose-faced blonde woman called out.</p><p>"Good ter see yeh, Hannah. How's Neville these days," Hagrid asked her.</p><p>The woman smiled and said, "Neville's doing just fine. A little relieved now that term's ended. He's actually getting the last of his things now and finally coming back home!"</p><p>Hagrid looked over at Maggie and said, "Oh, Maggie, this here is Madam Longbottom. She'll be startin' as the matron this year at Hogwarts. Her husband's yer Herbology professor. Hannah, this here's Maggie Alba. She'll be a firs' year this comin' term."</p><p>Madam Longbottom smiled and crouched down to Maggie's height, "Hello, little one. I guess we're both in the same boat, being new to Hogwarts."</p><p>Maggie smiled at Madam Longbottom. This was one of the rare times an adult looked at her with welcoming eyes. It was comforting to see. "What's a matron," Maggie asked.</p><p>"It's a bit like a nurse. Any broken bones or stomach aches and they'll be fixed in no time."</p><p>Maggie continued to smile back at her. If she was nice, her professor husband couldn't be so bad, right?</p><p>Hagrid guided Maggie to the back of the pub, where it led out into a back alley that was walled off by a brick wall similar to the one Maggie would watch the sun on, but taller. Not to mention the bins that huddled in a corner.</p><p>"Hagrid," Maggie asked, "What are we doing back here?"</p><p>"Yer abou' ter see more of the wizarding world, Maggie," Hagrid said, taking out his pink umbrella.</p><p>Hagrid took the end of his umbrella and tapped it against the brick wall in an area above the bins. After the third or fourth tap, the brick wall began to open right in front of them. The more it opened, the more Maggie could see the picture of a street. A few wizards here and there were walking about the street, and some were kids about her age and dressed like her, which made Maggie feel a bit better about sticking out.</p><p>"Now, muggleborn firs' years, not ter say yer muggleborn, Maggie, get notice righ' when term ends. It's not really as crowded as it is, say, in August."</p><p>"Pardon me, Hagrid, but what's a muggleborn?"</p><p>"Ah, haven' told yeh about blood status yet. I'll tell yeh later. We jus' got ter get ter Gringotts to exchange yer muggle money fer some galleons or sickles or knuts or whatever yer money's worth," Hagrid told her, walking towards a giant bank in the center of the town. As they walked, Maggie could see even more streets, one of which lead to a rather attractive joke shop that Maggie was curious about. Hagrid still lead her through the straight and narrow street until they reached a tall marble building that Maggie had somehow missed, but she knew it was Gringotts, the wizard bank. When they went inside, Maggie was amused at all the little creatures working in the bank. They were short and fair-skinned with pointed noses and pointed ears with very little hair on their heads.</p><p>"Hagrid, who are they," Maggie asked curiously.</p><p>"They're goblins, Maggie. They're the one who take care o' the vaults. Sure, they're a little untrustworthy, but they get the job done," Hagrid told her.</p><p>They made their way to one of the tall desks in the bank, where one of the goblins was balancing out strange-looking silver and gold coins on a brass scale. Maggie, still amazed at the small creatures, almost walked into the desk in amazement.</p><p>"Ms. Alba woul' like ter exchange muggle money fer some wizard money," Hagrid spoke.</p><p>"Does Ms. Alba have her muggle money to exchange," the goblin asked in a slightly high-pitched voice.</p><p>Snapping out of her wonder, Maggie dug out the crumpled pounds from her back pocket. Slowly, but surely, Maggie had an assortment of coins in front of her, mostly bronze coins, with equal parts of gold and silver coins sprinkled in there. Carefully, Maggie gathered the coins into a bag that Hagrid had from one of his many pockets as Hagrid was telling her their worth, "The gold ones, they're called Galleons. The little silver ones, they're called Sickles, an' tha's seventeen to a Galleon. The bronze ones are Knuts. Twenty-nine of 'em to a Sickle. Got all that, Maggie."</p><p>"Oh, uh, yeah. Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle," she responded.</p><p>When they finally got themselves out of Gringotts, they were back on the street of Diagon Alley, and Maggie didn't know where to start. "I'd say yeh can go fer yer fitting fer yer uniform at Madam Malkin's over there," he pointed to a purple shop with the sign "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions" hanging above its door. Inside one of the windows, she could see sewing needles sewing pretty dresses, which renewed Maggie's excitement. Quickly, she scrambled over to the shop and went inside.</p><p>"Oh, come along dear, right on this stool and- Merlin! Your eye color is quite beautiful! Never seen it on a human," a woman told her.</p><p>The woman who she had inferred was Madam Malkin, who was squat and dressed all in mauve, made her put on the uniform, which was a white button-down shirt with a tie with the same crest on her envelope tucked into a sweater, a skirt that came up to Maggie's knees, and some tall socks to match. Over that laid a plain black robe. As black as it was, Maggie loved it. She had never felt so important in her life, even though this was just a fitting. She left with four sets of robes (she decided it would be smart to grab an extra pair), hat, gloves, and a blue cloak, and found Hagrid across the street at a bookshop called Flourish and Blotts.</p><p>"Alright, yeh ready ter get yer textbooks," Hagrid asked.</p><p>Maggie looked inside and saw literal towers of books. Her eyes got wide as she saw the selection seemed even bigger than the antique bookstore in Northampton.</p><p>They headed inside and took quite a while to get her books, as Maggie wanted to look at every single cover of a book that sounded interesting to her. They then went to go buy quills and ink, something that Maggie was looking forward to using, and then to a cauldron shop. They went through her list and bought glass phials (even though Maggie almost stole some crystal phials because they were much more her style), a telescope, and brass scales.</p><p>"What do we need all this for again, Hagrid? Seems quite needy for a magical school," Maggie told him as they went along in the streets.</p><p>"Well, this is the bes' wizarding school in the world. Migh' as well get the bes' education," he said.</p><p>"Oh," Maggie said when she looked back down on the list. "I need a wand."</p><p>"Alrigh'. Go in ter Ollivander's. I need ter get somethin' fer you anyways," Hagrid told her.</p><p>"What do you have to give to me," Maggie asked.</p><p>"Yeh gotta wait fer it," he told her.</p><p>Maggie, still curious about what she could have missed, headed into Ollivander's. The inside of the shop was dark, with several long and thin boxes on shelves. After Maggie beat her fist against the front desk a few times, a pale, tall elderly man with silvery eyes came from behind the shelves. "Hello, miss," he said. "Now which is your wand hand?"</p><p>Maggie pondered for a minute. "Well, sir, I'm left-handed."</p><p>"Left-handed it is. Y'know, no two wands are the same here at Ollivanders. Unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, phoenix tail feathers, all different substances in every Ollivander wand." the man said, disappearing behind the shelves</p><p>He pulled out a wand, "Hawthorne, ten inches, with dragon heartstring. Nice and supple," he described it. Maggie picked it up, confused on what to do. "Go ahead, girl, give it a wave," Ollivander told her.</p><p>"Of course," Maggie grumbled under her breath. She waved the wand, but Ollivander snatched it back. "No. Definitely not," he said.</p><p>He went back and carefully selected another wand. "Ah. Maple, twelve inches, Phoenix feather. Quite flexible. Let's see how this one is," he said, handing the wand to her.</p><p>Before Maggie could even use the wand, Ollivander snatched it right back up, muttering, "No, no, no..." under his breath. They had gone through four or five different wands before Ollivander finally paused behind the shelves and brought out a wand, saying "I wonder..." under his breath.</p><p>"Beech, twelve inches, unicorn hair. You'll find it quite supple," Ollivander told her as he took out a wand. It was by far the prettiest wand they had tried out, with small, pearl-like material lightly dotting its handle, which Maggie could see pairing well with her pearl necklace. She brought the necklace out of its hiding spot in her shirt and picked up the wand. Almost immediately, she felt warmth through her fingers and she raised the wand above her head to find gold and blue sparks shooting out of its end.</p><p>Mr. Ollivander seemed delighted, as he shook Maggie's hand. "Excuse me, miss, but I don't believe I have your name," he told her.</p><p>"It's... Margaret Alba. Everybody just calls me Maggie, though."</p><p>"Well, Ms. Alba, I'll be expecting great things from yourself," he said happily.</p><p>Maggie blushed and felt her stomach churn. "How can you be so sure? I'm just a foster kid from Northampton, y'know," she told him.</p><p>"Ah, Ms. Alba, you see, you can tell a lot from the wand. It chooses the witch or wizard. With beech and unicorn, it can only mean great things for yourself," he told her.</p><p>"Well... thank you Mr. Ollivander," she said, paying for her wand and leaving the shop.</p><p>She found Hagrid waving down the street, waving to her. "Maggie! Late birthday present!" He held up a cage with a handsome Great Horned Owl looking back at her. She ran to him and tried to form words. "Like him," Hagrid asked.</p><p>"Hagrid, I love him, but I can't take him back to Ms. Cracknell's. What will the other girls say," she told him.</p><p>"Nonsense. I can take him back ter the school an' take care o' him like the res' o' the school owls," he told her.</p><p>"So... I can keep him? I mean, I can still have him back at Hogwarts," Maggie asked.</p><p>"O' course. He'll like it with the other owls," he reassured.</p><p>Hagrid then took her for ice cream at an ice cream parlour while Maggie let her new owl hop around. They witnessed a tall Irish girl with light brown hair trying to convince her grandmother to buy her a broom ("Look, Gran! There are broomsticks to fly on! Oh, could we please get one?" "No, Katherine! The list says first years aren't permitted!"). "Well, Maggie, I got ter say, I've enjoyed gettin' ter know yeh. I can' wait ter see yeh in September. Speakin o' which...," he dug around in his pockets, "This is yer ticket ter the Hogwarts Express. September first. Train leaves at exactly eleven o'clock in the mornin'. Don' be late. Don' lose it. I'd also keep some of them coins on hand. Yeh can buy sweets with them on the train if yeh want," he said, handing her a ticket.</p><p>'Wow. Now I can take the train to school? How much better can it get,' she thought to herself as she took the ticket and put it in her back pocket.</p><p>"Oh, look at the time. Better be sendin' yeh back ter Northampton," Hagrid said. </p><p>Maggie didn't want to leave Diagon Alley. There was still so much to learn. But she got her owl back in his cage and gave him to Hagrid. "Take care of him," Maggie told him as she handed the cage to Hagrid.</p><p>When they got to the train station, Maggie bought her ticket with her remaining muggle money, with Hagrid stopping her on the way out. "I was goin' ter give this teh yeh yesterday, but time got in the way and I ended up forgettin' it. Migh' be a little smashed." he told her, handing her a box.</p><p>On the train, she opened it to see "Happy Birthday Margaret" written in blue icing on a pink chocolate cake.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Jaida's Advice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Short chapter in which Maggie getting some advice from her foster sister.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maggie had somehow come back to the flat and snuck all her school things into her trunk without any of the girls asking what was in her bag. In fact, they seemed quiet about Maggie's mysterious trip to the train station. Talia, who was always glued to Maggie's hip whenever Maggie was in the flat, was in her own world as always. Isabella, who hated seeing Maggie go, never asked once where she went. Jaida, who always got on Maggie's case if she knew where she was going, also didn't really seem to care. Although it was nice to not offer an explanation on where she'd been, it was still strange to her that they were all strangely silent about her day out. </p><p>Maggie carried out the next month of July as usual, which included: Reading at the antique bookshop, stealing money from unsuspecting people, watching Nick and Jaida play basketball, and coloring pictures with Isabella and Talia. However, in the night, she would dream of what Hogwarts would be like, and how powerful she could be as a witch. There were times when she wanted to grab her wand from her trunk and just hold it in her hand to give her the same sensation Diagon Alley brought to her, but her trunk made an awfully loud creaking noise, which made it risky to the other girls finding out her secret. She decided it was best for her to not open her trunk to her school books or supplies without bringing any potential suspicion to the girls.</p><p>It wasn't until the middle of August when anyone had said anything else about school. Maggie had just gotten done telling Talia and Isabella a story to put them to bed, and Cracknell was out working a night shift at the café in town when Jaida pulled her onto her bunk.</p><p>"I know you're not going to Grey's with me in the fall," she told her as Maggie climbed onto the bunk.</p><p>Maggie froze in response. She didn't know what to say. There was no way Cracknell could've told the girls. Maybe Jaida had picked her trunk's lock and looked in. Maggie held her breath in, afraid of what was going to come next.</p><p>"Cracknell told us you were headed up to Manchester to McCarty's Reform School for Girls," she said sadly. "I didn't want to bring it up so soon."</p><p>Maggie sighed in relief. At least there was a cover story that Cracknell told them and they were all under the impression she would be several hours away. Maggie made a mental note to thank Cracknell later.</p><p>"Yeah," she said. "It's gonna be tough, being without you lot," she told her.</p><p>"I can't imagine what we're going to do with Isabella. We both know she'll never accept us leaving for a while. Not to mention Talia's probably going to go mental when you leave."</p><p>"Yeah, I know."</p><p>"You're perfectly fine with going to McCarty's," Jaida asked her concerningly.</p><p>Maggie took a deep breath and said, "McCarty's isn't even that bad."</p><p>Jaida snickered and said, "Allegedly."</p><p>Both girls laughed as quietly as they could without waking the two sleeping girls below them. When the two came back around,  Jaida pulled her in a little closer.</p><p>"A word of advice, you're going to be a lot more paler than a lot of the girls up there. Not to mention the eye color. If they try to get onto you for the way you look, swing back at them. If they pull your hair, swing back at them. If they try to steal that pearl necklace you always wear, swing back at them. If they try to do anything to overpower you, swing back at them," she told her.</p><p>Maggie stared at her, amused. She'd never had been encouraged to fight back before. In fact, she can remember a year when she had hit a girl when she stolen her scissors in primary school, twelve year old Jaida reprimanded her for doing so. "But Jaida, that could get me into trouble. You said so yourself, hitting someone isn't going to solve anything," she told her.</p><p>"Yeah, but you're gonna be on your own now, are you not," Jaida asked. "It's about time you stick up for yourself. I'm not gonna be there to protect you."</p><p>Maggie sat for a moment. She hadn't thought of bullies at Hogwarts. Since she was told so much good about it, she hadn't thought about the bad. By nature, she was expected to be more cautious. Her disregard for her safety caught her off guard. Not to mention she won't know anybody when she arrives.</p><p>Jaida snickered again, saying, "You should see the look on your face. I thought the same when I came to Grey's," she said. "Once you show them you're not afraid of them, they'll back off."</p><p>Maggie still held onto the look on her face. "I... I am afraid," Maggie told her. "I'm not as big as you. I can't fight bigger girls."</p><p>Jaida softened up and put her arm around Maggie. She said, "I've seen your anger. That alone makes me believe you can show them up."</p><p>"But what if I can't?"</p><p>"Shut up, Maggie. When you get in your first fight, write to me and tell me how it went. That is, if they don't read your letters, of course."</p><p>Maggie began to let go. "I guess," she said, "I will have to tell you about my first fight."</p><p>"See, now you're excited."</p><p>"I have a fight to win," Maggie said, putting both her fists up.</p><p>Jaida laughed and said, "Alright, tough one, get out of here. Back to your bunk."</p><p>As Maggie climbed down, Jaida stuck her head out and said, "One more thing, Maggie."</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"Never trust pretty, rich girls. They'll be the worst ones."</p><p>Maggie hesitated for a moment and said, "Ok."</p><p>She climbed to her bunk and laid down facing the wall. She felt for her pearl necklace, wanting to feel comfort. When she did, she felt a certain warmth from it. Whether she imagined it or not, she was perfectly content with the comfort it gave her, putting her right to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Hidden Platform</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Maggie boards the Hogwarts Express and meets some of her peers.</p><p>Some familiar faces in this chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the morning of the first of September, Maggie had woken up early as usual, but she didn't watch the sunrise. In fact, she wasn't really paying mind to the sun at all. She was making her packing arrangements for her trip to Hogwarts. Maggie hadn't owned a lot of things, so she didn't see the reason in packing the day before, all she had were her small jewelry box, her clothes, robes, school books, school supplies, her other books, her wizarding money, bag, toothbrush, and some snacks she'd managed to snag from unsuspecting people. Her train for King's Cross left at nine, which Maggie had remembered to put her ticket into her back pocket of her too short jeans.</p><p>Despite Maggie still being very much present in their room, there was still a feeling of emptiness. Talia watched as she packed her things while the other girls were still fast asleep. If you didn't look at her long enough, you couldn't tell she was sad. Her big brown eyes followed Maggie as she packed up clothes from their small closet and put them into her trunk. Maggie turned to see her sad eyes and sat down on her bunk.<br/>
"It's okay," she reassured. "I'll be back before you know it."</p><p>Talia turned her face downward.</p><p>"I know, I'll miss you guys too. But I promise, I won't leave forever. I'll come back in the summer. It'll be the old bedroom gang again; you, me, Jaida, and Isabella. We'll go back to the way we were. And I'll tell you what, you're going to do great in primary school. You're brilliant."</p><p>Talia smiled and gave Maggie a hug and muttered something along the lines of, "I'll miss you," into Maggie's arm.</p><p>Maggie didn't know that if she understood this wouldn't be their final goodbyes, but she didn't let it kill the moment.</p><p>Talia wanted to get up to try and help her pack, but she eventually became distracted by a wool jacket she owned. Maggie didn't get mad at her and just let her be. Talia had always had an interesting fixation on soft or shiny things, and Maggie couldn't get mad at her for it. Even though she'd chew off whatever chain her pearl necklace had, she would never yell at her for it.</p><p>When Maggie had finished breakfast (which had included toast and juice), Jaida helped her with putting her trunk in the small car that sat three stories down and a way down the street. "So, you're nervous," Jaida asked on the second flight of stairs.</p><p>Maggie froze as she remembered the lie about going to McCarty's. "Well, I guess I have to follow your advice now," Maggie told her.</p><p>Jaida smiled humorously and told her, "Hey! I'm a good role model!"</p><p>Maggie playfully rolled her eyes and they made it to the car with Jaida giving her a playful push. "Whatever they do to you, make sure they don't squeeze everything out of you. I still need that wit when you get back," Jaida told her.</p><p>"Maggie!" A voice from down the street came.</p><p>Maggie turned to see Nick Thoron in his pajamas running towards her so early in the morning. When he got to her, he threw his arms around her and said, "I'll miss you."</p><p>"I'll miss you too. I'll write," she told him.</p><p>"It's just- It won't be the same without you," he told her.</p><p>"I know," she said, smiling teasingly.</p><p>"Ok, love birds, hate to break it up, but we have a train to get to," Jaida called from behind.</p><p>When it was time to leave, everyone piled into the car, with Jaida in the front seat with Cracknell, and Isabella, Maggie, and Talia crowded in the back. Isabella cried the whole time. "You c-can write to us, can you," she asked.</p><p>"Of course I will. Every week," she promised. And she meant it. She couldn't leave them alone forever. And it wasn't like she'd leave them all for magic.</p><p>"You b-better," she said.</p><p>When they had gotten to the local train station, they said their last goodbyes, which were rather tearful, and she caught the train to go to King's Cross. When Jaida got to giver her final, tight hug, she whispered in her ear, "Remember, swing back." </p><p>She hadn't thought that leaving Northampton would be both liberating and disheartening. It was the only home she'd ever really known. However, she did love stepping into unknown territory, and that didn't kill her excitement at all. Especially when it was a whole other world. She wondered exactly how much exploration she would do, as it was an entire castle after all. What was it that the matron's husband was the professor of? Herbology? It sounded like fun! And what was that magnificent green book she had bought for school? Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them? She had to at least skim through it once she was on the train. And her owl! She couldn't forget about him. Even though the train ride to London was only an hour long, it felt like forever.</p><p>When the train had finally gotten to King's Cross, Maggie had grabbed her trunk from its rack and headed out to the platforms and pulled her ticket from out of her pocket. What she had read from it had make her confused;</p><p>London To Hogwarts<br/>
For One Way Travel<br/>
Platform 9 3/4</p><p>Maggie sighed, put the ticket in her back pocket, and wheeled her trunk to platforms nine and ten. There was no nine and three quarters. She wandered around the area for a bit, having less than an hour to figure out where the train was. She had looked for anyone with cloaks or odd-looking hats, but it was no use.</p><p>"Platform nine and three quarters, you say, miss," Maggie had heard from across the platform.</p><p>"Yes sir. You're sure you haven't got a clue," an Irish voice had said. It was the same girl from Diagon Alley who had tried to beg her grandmother for a broom.</p><p>The porter she was talking to sighed and gave her ticket back to her and walked to help another, leaving the girl looking frustrated.</p><p>Maggie quickly walked over to her with her trunk, mouthing 'Nine and Three Quarters?"</p><p>The girl perked up immediately and mouthed, "You too," back.</p><p>When the girls finally met with one another, Maggie realized how tall she actually was. She was at least a head taller than her with sun tan skin and an athletic build, and light brown hair she hung in a loose ponytail and brown eyes that were just a shade darker than her hair. Light freckles dotted her face and her smile was inviting and warm. She wore what looked like homemade knitted sweater, patchy corduroys, and dirty sneakers. She had a trolley with her trunk, an owl, school supplies, a basket that was probably filled with food, and a duffle bag behind her with a "Team Ireland" logo.</p><p>"You have any idea where we're going for the train," Maggie asked her.</p><p>"Not a clue. By the way, I'm Kate. Kate McDiggins," she said, sticking her hand out.</p><p>"Maggie Alba," Maggie said, shaking her hand.</p><p>'Well, Maggie, it's nice to meet you. You didn't know about being a witch last summer, too," Kate asked, wheeling her trolley along with Maggie.</p><p>"Yeah. I actually saw you in Diagon Alley. Believe you were trying to get a broomstick," Maggie told her.</p><p>Kate looked at her for a moment and said, "Oh! You were with that giant, weren't you? Yeah, only got a glimpse of you though. Oh, how I wish Gran would've let me with the broom!" she said.</p><p>"You read the letter. No first years are allowed a broom,"  Maggie said in response.</p><p>"Yeah, but see, I'm sneaky like that. Sneakiest person you'll ever meet," Kate said, pointing to herself.</p><p>Maggie gave a disbelieving laugh, "Please, you haven't been to Northampton."</p><p>Kate laughed. Behind her, there was a family of five rushing past them.</p><p>"...And James, McGonagall doesn't play around at school. She was rather strict when we went to school. I doubt she's changed. You've got your all your spell books-"  a woman with fiery red hair, who was obviously the mother, was telling her dark-haired son. Behind them, a tall, skinny man with the same dark hair and perfectly round glasses was holding each hand of another girl with the same hair as her mother, and another boy with the same hair as his father and brother.</p><p>Maggie and Kate stopped in their tracks at the mention of spell books. "Let's follow them," Maggie suggested.</p><p>"Agreed."</p><p>They followed the family down the platform until they stopped in front of one of the brick structures. "Alright, James. Here, let me help you with this. The trick is to be as quick as you can..." but the boy had already run into the bricks. But he didn't crash into them, he disappeared through them.</p><p>The woman with the red hair scoffed and turned to her husband, "What are we going to do with that boy?"</p><p>"Here, I'll take Albus, you'll take Lily. He won't leave without saying goodbye to you," her husband said, handing off their daughter to his wife. They did the same, running into the bricks as they disappeared through them.</p><p>Finally, it all came to Maggie. "Of course," she said. "It's all hidden! Here we were asking muggle workers where the train was," she said, wheeling her trunk to the platform.</p><p>"Wait for me!" Kate called behind her. "I- Could we do it together?"</p><p>Maggie smiled at her, "Of course."</p><p>Together, they ran to the bricks, and they went through. Maggie heard Kate give a loud gasp as they made it to the hidden platform. "Wow..." Kate said.</p><p>It was smaller, and was filled with people of all ages. The train was off on its own track and, sure enough there was a sign that read 'Hogwarts Express; Platform 9 3/4". There was excitement and tearful goodbyes on the platform, which contrasted greatly to the atmosphere of King's Cross. There were people with cloaks, people in muggle clothes, and kids with broomsticks. As it turns out, one of the kids with broomsticks' parents (two fathers, in fact), were actually people Kate recognized. "I was about five when they came to the marketplace where Gran usually sells bread. Caught them doing what I thought was 'magic tricks' behind their booth of fireworks. The little one with sandy hair did magic for me until the tall black one came back. They made me swear secrecy. It all cam back when I got my letter, how he made my doll fly. Doubt they remember me now," she told Maggie.</p><p>They went onto the train and went towards the back. Maggie was surprised when Kate followed her into the compartment when she seemed so eager to meet new people. "What? I can't sit with you? You're stuck with me now," she said, placing her trunk above in its railing, setting her owl, duffle bag, and her basket on the seat beside her. Maggie placed her trunk on the seats next to her to get her books and money out.</p><p>"Here, let me help you with that," Kate said behind her, coming to help her close her trunk.</p><p>"Here, it closes a certain way..."</p><p>And from there, Maggie had known she had a friend at Hogwarts. Even if she would be the weird foster girl from the bad part of Northampton, she had a friend who didn't care. By the time the train had taken off, Kate was halfway through her life.</p><p>"...and that's when Conor was born. Uncle Flynn and Aunt Genevieve spend a lot of time on the farm, so I see them pretty often. Conor's basically been my brother since I was five, with he and I running around in the wheat fields, of course when he was old enough."</p><p>Kate went on and on about her family's small wheat farm and how her family's bread was sold in the small village nearby. "Speaking of which, Gran packed me some bread in small batches," she said, getting her basket that was covered with checkered print cloth. "Would you like some? Gran says it's good for business, but you don't have to take it if you don't want to."</p><p>"No, I'd love to have some," Maggie told her. Kate smiled and gave her a piece. It was small, but was light and buttery. Maggie never expected to eat homemade bread before, but she liked it a lot more than store-bought bread. even if it was a bit cold, she still enjoyed it.</p><p>Eventually, Kate asked about her life, with Maggie placing her bookmark in between Jane Eyre. "Er... promise you won't laugh? Or leave? I'd rather not be all alone," she asked.</p><p>"Why would I," Kate asked in return.</p><p>Maggie took a deep breath. Of course, Nick was her friend, but he went into their friendship knowing about her background in foster care. "Well," she said, "I grew up in foster care..."</p><p>Kate looked at her and said, "Oh, okay. Like to tell me about it?"</p><p>"Well..."</p><p>The compartment door slid open, and in stepped in the dark haired boy from the platform and his friends. Maggie quickly opened to her marked spot and continued to read, paying no mind to the rowdy boys who had just come into their compartment.</p><p>"Well, well," the boy said as his friends filed in.</p><p>"I don't believe I've met these two. We've got, don't tell me, a girl from an abandoned attic, and-"  he turned to Maggie, who was still very much buried in her book. He grabbed the book out of Maggie's hands and put it behind his back, which made her look up and give him a look of annoyance. He paused when he met her gaze, as part of him was slightly intimidated by her anger, but was intrigued. "-a very pretty girl with very pretty eyes," he said smoothly.</p><p>Maggie sat back, still very annoyed.</p><p>"Look, mates, she has gold eyes," he told his friends, handing the book back to her.</p><p>Soon enough, his friends swarmed around her, making noises such as "Wow... Oh... Cool...". Although it was probably the most attention Maggie had gotten recently, she was uncomfortable by it. She tried to send the message by shifting uncomfortably in her seat, but none them took the hint.</p><p>"I'm James. James Potter. And this is Miles," he pointed to a tall boy with curly hair, "Jacob," who was a boy with floppy black hair, "Alistor," a boy with long blonde curls, "and Alex," who was a small Hispanic boy.</p><p>"You are," James asked her, still trying to get a look at her eyes.</p><p>"Hey! There's a candy trolley down the isle!" Kate said.</p><p>The boys turned and filed out of the compartment, with Kate quickly shutting the door behind them. "That should keep them out," she said, trying to find a lock on the compartment.</p><p>"Thank you, Kate. You know, Kate, I really hope we don't have any classes with them at school," she told her.</p><p>"Agreed. By the way, I wasn't lying about that candy trolley. If they don't buy up the trolley, I'd love to try the wizard candy," she told Maggie excitedly.</p><p>When the witch with the trolley came around to their compartment, both girls had bought a bit of everything; Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, which were jellybeans that had unusual flavors, Pumpkin Pasties (which were Kate's favorite), Cauldron Cakes, Jelly Slugs, Licorice Wands, and Maggie's favorite, Chocolate Frogs, which were chocolate frogs enchanted to be alive with a card of a famous witch or wizard inside. Maggie hadn't adventured in collecting very much, but her first card of "Cedric Diggory", a rather attractive student from Hogwarts who died at the hands of a dark wizard way before Maggie was born, made her curious about the venture.</p><p>"What's Hufflepuff," Maggie asked.</p><p>Kate shrugged, setting down her card of Gwenog Jones, who was flying on a broomstick in interesting looking robes. "All I got from the witch who came to the farm," she said, "is that when we get into school, we get sorted into houses. There are four, but I can only really remember two: Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I guess we'll learn more when we get to the school. Oh, would you like to learn about Quidditch? Gran snagged me this book after we couldn't buy the broom,"</p><p>An explanation about a game of four different balls and how three chasers passed around the biggest ball called the Quaffle, two beaters who swung a club to hit other players with violent balls called Bludgers, and how the seeker would chase around a small with wings called The Golden Snitch, Kate asked about her home life again. "You never told me about foster care," she told her.</p><p>"Well, I was in foster care since I was basically born and when I was a year and a half old, I was adopted. Everything went well, until I began hitting and they couldn't handle me. So, they took me back. They placed me with a woman and a bunch of older girls, so I think you can imagine how that went. I was adopted again when I was six, but they couldn't exactly understand that kids get into everything. Their solution: Take away the bear they gave me and leave me alone at the agency. Ended up in another home, which is where I got some of these," she pointed to her stack of books next to her, "and after some... situations, I was placed in my current foster home, and now, I guess I'm here."</p><p>"Wow. Two sets of families? Must be scary," Kate told her somberly.</p><p>"I mean, that's my life. No one's ever going to want an orphan with behavior issues."</p><p>"Well, I like you. And, let's just say you can visit the farm in Ireland in the summer. I'd love to have you around."</p><p>"You just met me."</p><p>"Well, I like you. We pretty much have only each other now in this world."</p><p>Maggie looked at her, trying not to show she was about to cry. "Y'know, I only really have one other friend besides my foster sisters. Thank you," she told Kate.</p><p>"Well, I look forward to being your friend, Maggie. Now, tell me about that book you bury yourself in!"</p><p>And from there, Maggie explained each of her books, skimmed through Fantastic Beasts, and finished off their sweets until it was time to change into their uniforms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. First Year: The Sorting Ceremony</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Maggie gets sorted into her house</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hints of malnourishment towards the end of this chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the train had finally arrived at Hogwarts, you could see trees and mountains under the dark sky. As Maggie and Kate were looking at the brightly lit village just a short distance ahead, they heard a voice ring throughout the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." Maggie put the books she had dug out of her trunk on the rack that held her and Kate's other possessions and the girls tried to stuff all of their remaining sweets into their pockets.</p><p>"Well, here we go," Kate said, with obvious nervous-ness.</p><p>"Remember, we'll make it through together, right," Maggie reassured her.</p><p>When the train had slowed and finally stopped, there was a lot of shuffling in the train. Many children of all ages crowded the aisle as they went to exit the train. When Maggie and Kate had managed to squeeze out of the train, the cold had taken over. Maggie shivered in the cold September night as a lamp approached the crowd of shuffling students, meeting up with friends or gazing at their new surroundings. As the lamp came closer, Maggie heard an unmistakably familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"</p><p>A smaller crowd followed the voice. "That's Hagrid," Maggie told Kate, who was shivering next to her.</p><p>"Wow..." Kate said as they got closer to Hagrid, who towered over the small crowd. "Seen him in Diagon, but not this close," she said in awe.</p><p>Maggie lifted her hand above the crowd to wave to Hagrid. She saw him give a small smile to her, looking pleased that she had come to school after all.</p><p>"Follow me - any firs' years left behind? Watch it, now! We don't want no one trampled on yer firs' day. Follow me, firs' years!"</p><p>After a very short yet tumbled walk in the dark down a steep, narrow path, they had reached a great black lake that the moonlight reflected off of. Once Maggie got a clear look at it, a feeling had come over her. She couldn't put it into words, but she felt... safe around it? Perhaps it was the magic to make the students feel less afraid of the school.</p><p>"Alrigh' firs' sigh of Hogwarts this way!" Hagrid yelled.</p><p>Maggie pried her eyes away from the water and looked up. There was a loud, "Oooooh!" echoing from the first years. Sparkling from the night sky, the castle's windows illuminated the dark sky. Maggie had expected a grand castle, but this was beyond her imagination. She swore she could even see floating candles in one of the bright windows.</p><p>"Alrigh', mind yer step! No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called as he pointed to a small fleet of boats close to the shore.</p><p>The students rushed to the boats, struggling to fit all of their friends into one boat. Some had even tried to divide their groups to fit in. In the end, Kate and Maggie had decided to share a boat with a girl with very white hair and skin named Lyra, who was sitting all alone in her boat.</p><p>"Which wizarding families are you from," she asked in a dreamy voice.</p><p>Kate spoke, "Well, we're both not from wizarding families... at least I'm not. I'm from a muggle family and she's from the foster system."</p><p>"Ah, I see. Not judging here. My mum was a muggle and my dad was a wizard. Was in Slytherin, in fact. My mum left for the States and never came back, though. Dad's been doing a grand old job though," she said in response.</p><p>"Ah, my dad left for France before I was born! Mam travels often for work, so I'm raised by my Gran," Kate said.</p><p>Soon, at Hagrid's command, the boats set off</p><p>Maggie, curious about the large lake, thought she run her hand through the lake's water. The moment her hand touched the water, a huge tentacle shot out of the water next to the boats, dividing the fleet and making the students go "Oooooh!" once more.</p><p>"Wow! I didn't think we'd see the Giant Squid just yet! Dad's told me all about it," Lyra told Maggie.</p><p>"There's a giant squid at this school as well," Maggie asked, still in shock of the tentacle.</p><p>"Oh, there's mermaids and grindylows down there too! Dad's told me all about them," Lyra told her excitingly.</p><p>"Alrigh'! Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as they reached a low-hanging cliff. The first years bent their heads down.</p><p>"Are there any other sea creatures in the lake," Maggie whispered.</p><p>"Not that dad's told me," Lyra whispered back.</p><p>The students continued through a dark tunnel that seemed to be going directly underneath the school until they reached some sort of underground harbor. The students clambered out onto rocks and and pebbles. In front of them was a flight of stone steps leading to two great oak doors.</p><p>"Everybody here," Hagrid asked as he knocked three times on the doors.</p><p>The doors swung open and there stood a small man in a black suit with a gold waist.</p><p>"Firs' years, Professor Flitwick," Hagrid introduced.</p><p>"Thank you very much, Hagrid. I'll take care of them from here."</p><p>Hagrid left down an opposite hallway and Professor Flitwick pulled out his wand to pull another door open, revealing a huge entrance hall. Torches hung from the walls and the ceiling was high and the floors were stone. Facing the first years was a marble staircase that led them to the upper floors of the castle. "They don't have this back as the agency in Northampton, do they," Kate whispered as they were lead up the stairs.</p><p>Flitwick lead the first years to a chamber off the hall, making the first years crowd together very uncomfortably. It was so small, she could see James Potter's messy black hair a few rows down. Lyra stood next to Kate. Flitwick grabbed a stool that stood in a corner near by and got on top of it.</p><p>"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Flitwick started. "In just a few moments, the start-of-term banquet will commence, but before you take your seats among your fellow students, you will be sorted into your houses. Each house is respectable in it's own individual way, and you will play a part in it's respected legacy. The members if your house will be like your family, as you will attend classes with your house, sleep in dormitories with your house, and spend whatever free time you have in your house's common room. These houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. At Hogwarts, we have a system of house points. Your celebratory acts earn you house points, however any rule breaking loses you house points."</p><p>"You heard that, James? No rule breaking," a girl with dark brown hair that was curled intricately called behind Maggie. Half the chamber snickered at that remark, with James Potter looking back at the girl. He look at Maggie for a moment as she tried to avoid eye contact again, and looked forward again.</p><p>"Now, now! Settle down! The Sorting Ceremony will start in a few minutes. A word of advice; make a good impression and show your peers what you've got!" Flitwick said spiritedly as he stepped off his stool. "I'll be returning when we are ready for you!" He left the chamber, leaving the students to shuffle around and converse with each other.</p><p>"We have to be sorted in front of the entire school," Maggie asked Kate, with Lyra standing not too far.</p><p>"Ugh, I'm going to make a fool of myself! How can I make a first impression if I don't know what I'm doing," Kate said with worry in her voice.</p><p>"I think your best strategy is to keep your cool," Lyra suggested.</p><p>Then, someone tapped Maggie on the shoulder. "You should come with me. They don't seem like your sort."</p><p>Maggie turned to see James Potter, who had decided to take his time shoving through the crowd to make it to her. Rolling her eyes, Maggie turned away. "C'mon. We're friends, aren't we," he continued to say.</p><p>"Who said we were friends," Maggie asked him, agitated.</p><p>The people who overheard her gasped, including the girl with the dark brown curls. James Potter raised his eyebrows. "So... you can speak," he commented.</p><p>"In fact, I can. 'This sort' knows I can," Maggie said, pointing to her party.</p><p>James Potter seemed shocked, but he smiled. "You're bold, you are. I like that. I'll be looking forward to seeing you in Gryffindor," he said with his smooth manner, shoving his way back to his friends.</p><p>"What... was that," Kate asked with Lyra making a shocked expression behind her.</p><p>"You girls know who that is? That's James Potter! Everyone knows his family," Lyra told them. "Not only is his dad Head of the Auror Office, he's The Boy Who Lived! Defeated the Dark Lord once and for all when he was just seventeen! My father had just left Hogwarts when that happened! His mother, a former player of the Holyhead Harpies, though she only played for four years before retiring to start a family with his father."</p><p>"Something tells me she'd be better off with the Holyhead Harpies than having him," Maggie told her.</p><p>No one had noticed Professor Flitwick had come back until his voice rang, "The Sorting Ceremony is ready to begin! Now form a line!"</p><p>Maggie, Kate, and Lyra were filed in the middle of the line as they walked out of the chamber, and entered through another set of great oak doors into the Great Hall.</p><p>The hall was a grand room. There were four long tables with banners inscribing the houses above them, with Slytherin on the far left as you enter the hall. Next to Slytherin was Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor at the very end. On these tables, there were decorated with empty gold plates and actual goblets. Ahead of the tables was another long table where all of the teachers sat. Hagrid was amongst those and sat on the far right, who waved to Maggie once he saw her. In the center of the table was a stern-looking woman with square spectacles and black hair tied into a tight bun. She wore a pointed hat and emerald robes. Maggie straightened as she saw her. Above the tables were stars and floating candles.</p><p>"It's enchanted to look like the night sky on special occasions, and that woman in the center's Professor Minerva McGonagall. Dad's said she's strict," Lyra told them as they walked ahead.</p><p>Sitting just ahead of the staff table was a stool with an old, patchy hat with... a mouth. And once the students had stopped, the hat broke into song. After the song, thee whole school applauded it's performance. As the applause was going, Maggie thought about the song's words and, suddenly, she figured out what they were supposed to do.</p><p>"I get it!" Maggie whispered to Lyra and Kate. "We have to try it on and it'll sort us. Gryffindor's the brave house, Slytherin's the ambitious house, Hufflepuff's the loyal house, and Ravenclaw's the really smart house."</p><p>"Oh! I get it," Lyra whispered back.</p><p>"Now, when I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Professor Flitwick said, carrying a long roll of parchment. "Alba, Margaret," he called first.</p><p>Maggie could feel her heart drop into her stomach. "Well, one of us was bound to go first," Kate said, pushing her forward. </p><p>"Good luck," Lyra told her, wringing her hands together.</p><p>The whole school's eyes were on her as she nervously walked up to the hat, and she overheard James Potter saying "Margaret Alba. Such a pretty name," to his friends.</p><p>When she got to the hat, she nervously put it on. When the hat was on her head, it fell over her eyes. "Hmmmm," a small voice whispered in her ear. "Now you, my dear, are quite interesting. So early in the ceremony and I see quite a complex person. You definitely have bravery, y'know. A sense of loyalty is one of your strongest traits. A very talented mind too, you wouldn't do bad in Slytherin. But, I see a witty mind and a want to learn in your head. Ah, I see, I'll place you in... RAVENCLAW!"</p><p>Maggie heard the Ravenclaw table erupt in cheers as she took the hat off and took her place next at the table.</p><p>"First student sorted is the first one in Ravenclaw. Hasn't happened in forever! I'm Alexandra Thorne, one of the Prefects of Ravenclaw house," an older preppy girl with honey blonde hair said as she introduced herself.</p><p>Maggie looked over at the remaining first years, with Lyra and Kate cheerily waving hat her and James Potter disappointed. The next student, Archie Alcott, a chubby boy, was sorted into Gryffindor. The next student sorted into Ravenclaw was a black girl with black rounded horn-rimmed glasses and a curly bob with blonde highlights named Allie Ambrose, who sat across from Maggie nervously. Maggie introduced herself to try and make her feel better, but noticed Allie was more concerned with the girl with dark brown curls staring at her disappointingly. Lyra was sorted after Allie and was placed in Ravenclaw as well, taking her place next to Maggie at the table.</p><p>The ceremony went on with "Barback, Charles... Blaze, Harper... Bourne, Alice... Brassbone, Miles... Bright, Asteria... Chaibi, Yasmin... Clare, Brandon..." and so forth. Lyra and Maggie were patiently waiting for the M's to come around, and finally, "McDiggins, Katherine" was called. After the hat deliberated for a bit, she was sorted into Hufflepuff. Thankfully, the tables were right next to each other, and Kate traded seats with the other first year behind them. Before long, James Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, which lead him to sitting next to all his friends, who were also Gryffindors. The ceremony was nearing end when it got to "Whirlston, Regina", the girl with the dark curls, who ended up being in Gryffiindor.</p><p>When the ceremony was over, Professor Flitwick rolled up his scroll and took the sorting hat away. Maggie turned herself to face Kate, who was beaming with excitement. "Ok, so we may not be in the same house, but we're still meeting up in the courtyard after lessons," Kate told her.</p><p>"Just my same thought. At least we're not in the same house as James Potter. Imagine spending your free time with him of all people," Maggie said.</p><p>Suddenly, McGonagall rose to her feet and the whole hall fell silent. "Welcome," she began, "to a new year at Hogwarts, where we pride ourselves with success and obedience."</p><p>"Great," Maggie grumbled. "Both of the things that I'm absolutely not."</p><p>"Now, The feast may... begin," and with a clap of McGonagall's hands, the tables were covered in plates of potatoes and roast beef, roast chicken sitting on big gold dishes and there was Yorkshire pudding and pork chops and lamb chops, peas, gravy, chips, ketchup and roasted carrots. Half of the the things on the table were foods Maggie had only dreamed of. With the little money her foster homes were given, she could only ever remember bread and water for meals. Heck, bringing home hamburgers were a luxury.</p><p>Noticing her mouth wide open, Lyra jokingly asked Maggie, "They don't feed you in foster care?"</p><p>"Like this? I can only dream of it!"</p><p>Maggie piled her plate with a bit of everything, even the strange items and ate it all. It all seemed so surreal that she was eating al this food. "My mum's told me all about the Hogwarts kitchens," another first year named May Li was telling the girls around her. "She says they're trained intensely for six months before they're officially hired."</p><p>As the feast went on, Maggie noticed ghosts coming out of the walls. The other students noticed as well, and were all captivated by each ghost. The one flying past Ravenclaw table was a modest looking young woman who was looking at all the new first years. When she got to Maggie, she stopped. "Hello, darling," she said smiling at her.</p><p>"Hello. I'm Maggie," introduced Maggie.</p><p>"They call me The Grey Lady. Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, and she dove under the table not to be seen again.</p><p>Alexandra Thorne looked at her, surprised. "That's the most I've ever heard out of her. Especially to a first year," she told Maggie.</p><p>As the feast came to an end, Professor McGonagall stood up again and the whole hall fell silent. "As expected, I shall read off a few start-of-term notices. As always, the forest is forbidden to all pupils, as a few of our older students know. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, that graffiti is an intolerable offense and doing so shall result in consequence. In addition to safety, we'd like to welcome Ms. Hannah Longbottom to our staff, as she will be replacing Madam Pomfrey as she retires from her position as matron. As many of you know, she is married to a familiar face around Hogwarts, so I expect you all to give her the same respect you all give to Professor Longbottom." Madam Longbottom stood from her seat and her face flushed red. Maggie saw her husband, a short, chubby blonde man, was smiling up at her. "Quidditch trials shall be on the second week of this term, and anyone interested in playing for their house is to report to Madam Hooch. And now, before we go into our houses and into bed, we shall carry on the tradition of singing the school song." She rose her wand and each table received it's own page of words above them. "Now, pick your favorite tune, and... go!"</p><p>The school echoed off-key at the song, finishing at different times, but James Potter and his best friend, Miles Brassbone, ending at the slowest speed possible. </p><p>"Thank you, Mr. Potter and Mr. Brassbone. Now everyone, follow your Prefects to your houses!" McGonagall said. And at her command, Alexandra made her way to the doors with the Ravenclaws closely following behind.</p><p>"Follow me, first years," Alexandra said, guiding them away from the Hufflepuffs.</p><p>They followed Alexandra to a tall, winding tower. The spiral staircase leading them up made Maggie's legs ache, but when they finally reached the top, they were greeted with a door with no doorknob. On the door instead, there was a great brass doorknocker with an eagle holding it.</p><p>"Let's see if you can solve the eagle's riddle on your first go," Alexandra told the first yeas.</p><p>"I can take you to any place you desire, even the most impossible worlds. However you barely move from an armchair as you travel. What am I."</p><p>There was a lot of thinking until Allie Ambrose piped up, "A book!"</p><p>The door swung open and the first years filed in.</p><p>The inside of the common room was very airy and tall, and its star dome and carpet didn't take that away. There were bookcases everywhere that were absolutely filled with books and high windows with blue and bronze silks adorning them. there were individual desks placed around the windows and inside of a niche, there was a tall statue of a rather pretty woman with a plaque that read 'ROWENA RAVENCLAW: ONE OF THE CELEBRATED FOUNDERS OF HOGWARTS: SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY'. Around the place, there were moving portraits... yes, moving... portraits of famous Ravenclaws, such as 'Uric the Oddball' and 'Millicent Bagnold'. Amongst the niche, there  were two staircases leading to a tall balcony with two doorways on opposite sides of each other.</p><p>"Alright, girls on the right, boys on the left. As you enter your dorms, you'll find that your possessions have already been delivered to your respective dorm," Alexandra said.</p><p>When Maggie finally found her dorm room, she saw that both her and Lyra, Asteria Bright, May Li, and Allie Ambrose were going to be rooming for the next seven years off school. The dorm room had their beds in nooks, with a window for each bed. In between the beds, there were bookshelves for each girl and a desk off to the side on one of the walls.</p><p>"Cheer up, Allie," Asteria tried to comfort her.</p><p>"It's just that... me and Regina have been talking about Hogwarts forever. Now we're in separate houses," Allie said discouragingly.</p><p>"Speak for yourself. My best friend's in Hufflepuff and we're still okay," Maggie told her as she was placing her books on her bookshelf.</p><p>"Yeah, but you - hey, is that Jane Eyre," Allie asked.</p><p>"Well, in fact it is," Maggie said.</p><p>Allie smiled and walked towards her. "Y'know, my family doesn't really read muggle books, you know, being pureblood and all. Could I maybe borrow it after you're done," she asked, noticing the bookmark in between the books pages.</p><p>Maggie looked down at the book, and then back up at Maggie. "You can borrow it if you give it back. I've read it over five time before. What's pureblood," Maggie asked.</p><p>Allie went on to explain, "Well, there's a bunch of different types of families, depending on who your parents marry. Purebloods have generations of wizards as family. Half-bloods have some sort of muggleborn or just plain muggle ancestry. Muggleborns are wizard children with muggle parents. And then you have the Squibs, which are non-magical children with wizard parents."</p><p>Suddenly, Maggie remembered what Hagrid had said about alerting muggleborns about Hogwarts early on back in Diagon Alley. It made her wonder what her parentage was.</p><p>"You're muggleborn," Allie asked.</p><p>"To be honest, I have no idea."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. First Year: Letters and Tea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>'Dear Nick,</p><p>See, I promised to you I'd write. I don't know if you ever doubted it, but here I am, writing to you. And, before you ask, yes, I've been keeping up with my weekly letters to the other girls plus Cracknell. Contrary to what you and Jaida told me, McCarty's isn't so bad. I've been here for a month and I've already made a few friends. Don't worry though, who could ever forget you. Especially when we've gotten into trouble too many time to count together. What amuses me, however, are all the rich kids. You'd love the way they talk about sneaking in sweets into classes, acting like it's the worse anyone our age can do when you and I know fully well that's not the case.</p><p>Speaking of classes, they're also not terrible. Yes, the teachers are strict, but I enjoy the classes. The worst part about it is the caretaker of the school. Yeah, this school has a caretaker. My first day, he caught me sneaking into a coat closet, accusing me of skipping class when all I wanted was a coat, because the school can get quite cold. He tried to get me detention for the whole weekend, but my headmistress only let me off with a warning. I did, however, get detention a week later for talking out of turn in class. Had to sweep the whole dining hall spotless with said caretaker. Thankfully, my next two detentions were with my favorite staff members, who let me help with his plants he has around his classroom for a few hours in my second detention, which I got for exchanging a few words in between classes with a rich girl named Regina who made fun of my Northampton accent. My third detention was shelving books in the school library, which you would expect to be fun for me, but I don't think anyone would enjoy an enormous stack of books. I got that one for throwing a book in the library at a boy who's been a pain since I got here.</p><p>I hope this letter gets to you well. I do hope you're still checking in on the other girls. Please-'</p><p>"Maggie, are you done with that letter yet," Kate asked across from her, who was buried in 'Quidditch Through the Ages". They were situated in the library after a long day of lessons, where they could be found either writing letters, doing homework, studying, or multitasking the best they could.</p><p>"It's a bit hard to write to a muggle friend who's asking about school life," Maggie responded, finishing her letter with 'Please make sure they're all doing okay. I still miss you. -Maggie'</p><p>Maggie waited for the ink to dry and handed it to Kate. "Is my writing getting better," she asked.</p><p>Kate looked over the writing and said, "It's a lot better than it was when school started. Who knew that transferring from pencils to quills was so difficult!"</p><p>Maggie folded the letter and tried to make a seal using a nearby candle.</p><p>"So, this muggle friend isn't going to be so suspicious when he gets a piece of parchment paper sealed with candle wax when he gets it," Kate asked.</p><p>"Well... I don't know. This is the first letter I'll be sending to Nick. If he asks, I'll make up some excuse."</p><p>"Better come up with something clever. I've heard Potter talk about the time muggles saw his dad and uncle flying a car to school."</p><p>"You actually believe that?"</p><p>"When you have Transfiguration and Herbology with him, you can come tell me all the stories he tells. You know, I really wish Hufflepuff didn't have any classes with the Gryffindors like the Ravenclaws. I swear, if I hear him say 'I'm the son of the chosen one' one more time, I'll smash something."</p><p>"What was it you told me at the first breakfast after he winked at me?  'Give him a chance, Mag. He could be really nice.' Well, here we are now a month later."</p><p>"Well, you threatened to sock him. Let's listen to you from now on, since you're so wise."</p><p>"Exactly."</p><p>Suddenly, the afternoon bell rang. Maggie turned to the enormous clock that hung on the wall in the library and began packing her things.</p><p>"Sorry, Kate. Promised Hagrid I'd meet up with him for afternoon tea," she said hastily, trying to fit her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions into her bag.</p><p>"Could I join in? I need to deliver a letter to Gran, anyway. I'll go with you. Besides, it's not every day you have tea with a giant," Kate told her, also packing her things.</p><p>"I'm sure Hagrid won't mind. I'll go with you to deliver this letter to Nick," Maggie replied, taking her things up with her.</p><p>When the two girls had finally made it outside, they were greeted by the crisp September air. Over the month she's been at Hogwarts, Maggie noticed the weather growing steadily colder. The cold September had grown into a colder October. She and Kate had gotten scarves with their house colors (blue and bronze for Ravenclaw and black and yellow for Hufflepuff) that they often wore around the school to keep them protected from the cold. At night, Maggie looked out into the Forbidden Forest, which she noticed its leaves turning color slowly. She spent many nights wondering if she could ever see the creatures she read about in her textbook in the forest beforre the sound of the winds put her to bed.</p><p>"So, you go to Hagrid for tea often," Kate asked.</p><p>"See, I told him I'd come and visit him often, but between all the work in Transfiguration and Astronomy, plus all the other subjects, I haven't got time to visit him."</p><p>"Okay, you have a point about Dunlap being impossible with turning matches into needles, but think about it. Once the school year really kicks in, we're going to love it here!"</p><p>"Is 'we' implying your feelings about school?"</p><p>"I didn't say anything about my own personal feelings."</p><p>They got to the tower which housed the owlery and began climbing the stairs.</p><p>"You think your grandmother misses you," Maggie asked Kate as they made their way up the stairs.</p><p>"Course she does. What about the girls back at home. They miss you?"</p><p>"I've gotten one letter so far from my caretaker. It was some first day of primary school photos of my youngest foster sister. I've been consistent, though. No word from them yet."</p><p>The two girls reached the top of the tower, which smelled terrible and was covered in droppings, hay, and small skeletons of mice. The stray feathers decorated the floor in such a manner that was unclean, yet seem aesthetically fitting. the owls hung about in little nooks in the walls that climbed all the way up into the ceiling. As much as it smelled bad and looked unflatteringly unkept, Maggie thought it was perfect for her owl to socialize with the other owls.</p><p>"Rochester!" Maggie called out. </p><p>"A month flies and you finally have a name for your owl," Kate said, calling down her barn owl.</p><p>"For the record, I named him two weeks ago."</p><p>"Ok, well, I still beat the record. Named Hallie the day we got her."</p><p>"Oh, whatever. Rochester's a better name than Hallie."</p><p>"Please, who comes up with a name like Rochester?"</p><p>"He's named after a character in my book. Bit of a wanker, but the markings on his left wing remind me of when his hand gets burned and struck down after his bride leaves."</p><p>Kate knelt down to see the markings and looked back up at her with a hilarious expression. "The first thing you see when you see your owl is a wanker with a burnt hand? Blimey, Margaret, you think in mysterious ways," she said, going back towards Hallie.</p><p>"Yeah. That's why I made it to Ravenclaw and you didn't."</p><p>"Would you shut up and send your letter to Nick?"</p><p>"Who's Nick," a voice from the doorway asked.</p><p>The girls turned to see James Potter alone without his friends. He, too, was carrying a letter, but he seemed to be hiding it behind his back. Maggie rolled her eyes and made payment to Rochester's coin pouch that hung at the bottom of his talons</p><p>"Is he your boyfriend back at home or something," James Potter asked, getting his brilliantly white owl down from it's place.</p><p>Maggie rolled her eyes yet again and told Rochester, "Same as last time. Just drop it through their mail slot. Just this time the one two rows above the last one."</p><p>"Y'know, Marg, we can't be friends if we can't talk," James called across the room, still hiding the envelope, only this time behind the owl.</p><p>Maggie threw her hands up and yelled, "You know, not everyone wants to be your friend!"</p><p>Kate's mouth began to drop open but she quickly shut it, going back to giving the letter to Halle.</p><p>James, however, stepped closer to her. "You have a big mouth for someone who doesn't even have status," he told her. "Who exactly do you think you are, Northampton."</p><p>Before Maggie could process what he had just told her, Kate shoved her out of the owlery and back down the stairs.</p><p>"The hell did you just say to him, Mag," Kate asked as their way down the tower.</p><p>"What makes him any different from me other than the fact he's a rich Londoner?"</p><p>"I thought you liked London."</p><p>"Yeah, the city. Not the people. What makes him have to throw his wealthy Londoner lifestyle in my face?"</p><p>"Exactly. That's the thing. If it's one thing I've learned in the past month, is that Gryffindors are very proud people. And, well, James Potter's part of one of the most powerful families in the wizarding world. I mean, his father defeated the dark lord, his mother is a Holyhead Harpies player turned sports editor for the Daily Prophet, which if I would've known who she was when we saw her at King's Cross, I think I would've had a meltdown. She's brilliant. Oh, and his aunts and uncles basically run half of Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic."</p><p>"Wait. Slow down. Ministry of Magic?"</p><p>"Don't you read the Daily Prophet? It's the United Kingdom's wizard government. They just had a new minister sworn in. Some bloke named Mafalda Hopkirk. You want to know who's basically her right-hand man? James Potter's uncle."</p><p>"The one with the car?"</p><p>"No, I need to file through the other uncles he's told stories about."</p><p>"Wait, you've been in the wizarding world for, what three or four months and you know this all?"</p><p>"I didn't ask to hear about it- hey, Hagrid's hut down that way?"</p><p>In the distance, Maggie could see smoke from Hagrid's chimney emerging into the air. The small wooden hut sat just off the banks of the Black Lake and was surrounded by pumpkins of enormous size. Often, Maggie liked to gaze out of classroom windows just to have a look at the small hut. However, the more they got closer to the hut, the more bigger it became. When they had finally reached the hut, the door towered over the girls. Considering Kate's height, it could be taller than both girls combined.</p><p>"Ah, hello Maggie," Hagrid said as he answered the door to Maggie's quiet knocks.</p><p>"Hello, Hagrid. I hope you don't mind, I brought a friend along," Maggie said.</p><p>"Hello. I'm Kate. Kate McDiggins," Kate said very excitedly.</p><p>Hagrid looked down to her and said," Ah. Yer Maggie's friend. She's tol' me when I seen her 'round the school. It's arright. Enough fer everyone ter go 'round."</p><p>He led the girls into the large, yet very roomy, one room hut. There was a large, Hagrid-sized bed in one corner with a very large dog sleeping underneath and a fireplace with a very large, very old looking kettle over it. The hut was decorated in a very earthy tone, with some pictures of former students waving at them and some souvenirs from different animals. Next to the window near the fireplace, there was a table with large, yellow teacups placed on large saucers.</p><p>"So, has Hogwarts been kind teh yeh," Hagrid asked as he brought the kettle over.</p><p>"Glad you asked. Don't get me wrong, I love all my classes, but some of other kids are a bunch of slags," Maggie told him.</p><p>"You know, Maggie, there are more students than James Potter and Regina Whirlston," Kate told her as Hagrid was pouring tea into her teacup.</p><p>"Hol' on! James Potter? As in Harry Potter's son," Hagrid asked.</p><p> "Er, I guess. That's what Lyra said, right," Maggie asked Kate.</p><p>"Well, of course yer talkin' abou' Harry's son. I was there when Harry killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! Knew him when he was jus' a baby," Hagrid told the girls.</p><p>"You... you're friends with James's dad," Maggie asked in disbelief.</p><p>"Knew him, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, their friends, Merlin, even his little brother an' sister."</p><p>"Oh, so you know how he's stuck up?"</p><p>"Now, he can't be tha' bad."</p><p>"He and I almost got into a fight over in the owlery. He's just so... rich. Just because he can practically get away with anything, doesn't mean he can treat poorer people and people he considers less than him any worse. Y'know, he hexed Archie Alcott in the halls before dinner. Poor thing had to miss out on the Shepard's pie. We spent hours trying to get him off the tapestry! And... and that girl he hangs out with, Regina Whirlston. She's the absolute worst! Y'know, I could take her. She thinks she can make fun of us because Kate has a thicker Irish accent than Imogene Trembler, not to mention my Northampton accent. I'm sorry we grew up in different places that don't fit your London way of life. I swear, I could..."</p><p>"Han' on, Maggie! Jus' 'cause they have a bit more money than you, doesn' mean they're all bad," Hagrid told her.</p><p>"That's what I told her! They're just annoying," Kate said, taking a sip of her tea.</p><p>Hagrid sighed. "I ge' it. I known James Potter from when he was jus' a little one. Always did have a bit of mischief in him. Takes a lot from the Weasley side. Sometime, I think he'd get along with... well, I shouldn' tell yeh that. But if there's one thing I can tell yeh abou' him, an' don' tell him I told yeh this, he has a big heart. An', well, other than his family hist'ry of endin' up in Gryffindor, I sorta expected it."</p><p>Maggie took a sip of her tea and asked, "You can tell who's going to be in which house?"</p><p>"Well, not everyone. His mother's side, the Weasley's, they've been in Gryffindor fer generations. Same as his father's. Gryffindors since I started comin' here. Wouldn' be surprised if his little brother an' sister become Gryffindors too. Me dad was a Gryffindor too, so little Hagrid ended up in Gryffindor, too."</p><p>Maggie chocked on her tea. "Y-you were in Gryffindor?"</p><p>"I was. Not all Gryffindors are bad. So wha' if yeh have a few bad times with the Gryffindors, doesn' mean they're all bad."</p><p>Maggie thought about his words for a moment. "Maybe he's right," she told Kate, who was trying to stomach one of Hagrid's rock cakes.</p><p>"I just told you pretty much the same thing," Kate said.</p><p>Maggie took a sip of her tea and turned to Hagrid. "Hagrid, did you know I would end up in Ravenclaw. Were there any Alba's in Ravenclaw," she asked.</p><p>Hagrid stopped as he was raising his tea cut to his lips. When he finally set it down, he told Maggie, "If yeh want me teh be honest, I though' you woul' be in Gryffindor before I met you properly. But I wasn' completely surprised at Ravenclaw. They're awful special, havin' you in Ravenclaw. But, no, there weren't exactly 'Alba's' in Ravenclaw."</p><p>"Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'before you met me properly'?"</p><p>Hagrid's eyes grew wide. "Well... yeh see... it's..."</p><p>In the distance, the bell for dinner chimed.</p><p>"Blimey, is it time already? Bes' be off teh dinner. Isn't it fish an' chips tonigh'? Yer favorite, Maggie?  Here, lemme get these fer yeh. Bes' be on yer way bay now," Hagrid said as he pushed them out the door.</p><p>When Hagrid got the girls out of his hut and closed his massive door, the girls stood outside, very confused as to what just occurred.</p><p>"What- what just happened," Kate asked as they made their way up to the castle.</p><p>"That's what I thought," Maggie responded. "I don't know. I wouldn't think he'd keep secrets from me. You think we've... met before?"</p><p>"I don't know. Try to think back. You remember a Hagrid-sized figure when you were little?"</p><p>"I don't know. I have a good memory, but I can't remember Hagrid. Maybe he was there in the background?"</p><p>"There's no giant figure that wore a moleskin coat or had a long beard?"</p><p>"No. Not a bit."</p><p>Kate snickered and asked, "Good memory?"</p><p>"Yeah. I can remember a bit from my first foster home."</p><p>"If you can remember well, then maybe you can remember measurements in Potions."</p><p>"Hey, it's not my fault Professor Parkinson would rather read 'Witch Weekly' than tell us how to make potions!"</p><p>With a playful push Kate ran into the castle, with Maggie chasing after her. When they got to the Great Hall, almost everyone had taken their seats. The tables were arranged in a way that almost no one ever sat near the front, so on nights when Kate and Maggie were late to dinner, they would take occupancy at the front and would eat dinner facing each other, occasionally turning to get another bite. They would sit, fill their plates, and talk about upcoming school events they were excited for, or, on occasion, Kate would ask about one of Maggie's books. Tonight was one of those nights.</p><p>"Wait, so Mr. Darcy does all these nice things for everyone, and Elizabeth hates him until he writes her a letter exposing the fraud of a man she loves?"</p><p>"Yeah. I find it rather enjoyable."</p><p>"Grand. You're going to let that Allie girl borrow your books yet again?"</p><p>"She gave back Jane Eyre in the week that she finished it in. She also gave back Great Expectations. I trust her. Considering her family doesn't really have access to the muggle world, it's the least I can do. Plus, I think that being former friends with Snow White and her four slags took quite the toll on her."</p><p>"Is that what we're calling Regina now?"</p><p>"The pale skin and dark princess hair makes her a fine candidate, don't you think?"</p><p>"She's missing the gentle personality. Wasn't she the one who pulled her aside in the dungeons during potions all upset that she didn't make it to Gryffindor?"</p><p>"Well, Allie's brother told her Regina wasn't pleased they weren't in the same house. Apparently, they were best friends up until the hat put Allie in Ravenclaw. She told the girls and me that they've been planning Hogwarts since they were young. Odd reaction if you ask me. I'd be honored to have a smart friend."</p><p>Kate took a bite out of one of her chips and asked her, "Do you think Hagrid's a smart friend?"</p><p>Maggie set down her fork and responded with, "I think he's brilliant. He's terrible at keeping secrets, though."</p><p>"Hey! Alba!" a voice shouted from across the room. Of course, the voice belonged to James Potter, who was sitting next to Snow White herself.</p><p>Maggie rolled her eyes and turned around.</p><p>Kate stood up and turned to the Gryffindor table and yelled, "Oi, Potter! Watch it-"</p><p>Suddenly, James Potter gave a slight yelp. "Did... How did she do that?"</p><p>Maggie turned to look at Kate, who turned back at Maggie.</p><p>"Go on, Potter. Tell us what's wrong with her," Maggie told James Potter, who now has focused attention onto her.</p><p>"Not her, Northampton. You."</p><p>Maggie thought she couldn't be bothered to anymore. She took her last remaining bite off her fork and stood up. "I'm going to the library," she whispered to Kate. "If he follows me, make him stop."</p><p>"Wait- no. You don't understand! She... she turned gold and disappeared not even for a second! I saw it!"</p>
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